Is it still the high energy consumption demand that restricts the application of seawater desalination ?

Published on by in Academic

Many small but populated by people islands in the Mediterranean Basin are dry with limited fresh water resources. In addition, quite often salt water intrudes into their few aquifers deteriorating the situation in terms of potable water availability to their inhabitants. On the other hand, during summer, in some of them, the population significantly increases due to tourism increasing at the same time the demand for fresh water. To handle this increase in fresh water demand, water usually needs transporting to the islands, but their long distance from the mainland leads to a high cost. Could the construction of some small-sized seawater desalination plants be a rational solution to the problem? Is it still the high energy consumption demand that restricts the application of seawater desalination methods like reverse osmosis membrane technology in these remote places where seawater is abundant and seawater desalination could indeed improve the quality of life of the inhabitants?

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