Thread: Yielding frest water from ocean salt water.

Hello, does anybody here know if there are currently any good technologies out there that can yield fresh water from ocean salt water. Do the plants currently operate on clean energy, like solar, wind, or tide. Is the water yielded as cheap as fresh water from a normal lake or spring.

How do they do it? Do they pump the salt water through filters to remove the salt from the water? Do they heat the salt water to evaporate the water out of the salt? Is it something different? I hope to spark discussion so that solutions to this problem can be raised and scientifically formulated. Thanks.

http://www.coastal.ca.gov/desalrpt/dchap1.html

To summarize the link, most desalination is in the Middle East, through filters or by boiling & condensing. You get a better drinking product by boiling, but that demands a lot of energy.

As a shamelessly political aside, Iran has plans to achieve water self-sufficency and even regional export, by boiling huge volumes of water through nuclear plants along the Persian Gulf. Most of this water would support local agriculture. Or so they say.

Originally Posted by Pong

To summarize the link, most desalination is in the Middle East, through filters or by boiling & condensing. You get a better drinking product by boiling, but that demands a lot of energy.

As a shamelessly political aside, Iran has plans to achieve water self-sufficency and even regional export, by boiling huge volumes of water through nuclear plants along the Persian Gulf. Most of this water would support local agriculture. Or so they say.

I have read news online saying there may be micro nuclear reactors coming out in about 5 years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...ors-los-alamos

They would be a good idea for Iran today because the reactors would contain no weapons grade material, unless they enriched it. Maybe we could convince Iran to use theses reactors for fresh water when they come out instead of continuing to develop its controversial, probably more expensive nuclear programs.

Originally Posted by Janus

http://www.coastal.ca.gov/desalrpt/dchap1.html

Thanks, it is good to know that there is a solid alternative in place for shrinking supplies of fresh water out there.