Chapter 2 Global Desalination Situation

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview on the worldwide installed desalination capacity by different source water types, technologies, and end uses. It furthermore discusses the historical development of the main desalination technologies, regional and future trends. About 63% of the present desalination capacity of 44.1 million cubic meters per day is produced from seawater, 19% from brackish water, and 5% from waste water sources. Much of the expected growth of the desalination market will take place in the seawater sector, although brackish water and wastewater desalination will presumably become more important in the future. The figures show that desalination is developing into a coastal-based industry in some sea regions such as the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea, with potential to harm the marine environmental resources it depends on. The key environmental concerns are briefly outlined, covering the intakes and discharges, and energy demand of the main processes, followed by an outlook on impact mitigation measures. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.