Advantages And Disadvantages Of Desalination

Abstract
The resources of freshwater on Earth are finite and with the current devastating drought in the Western Cape alternative resources of freshwater needs to be found. This report looks at the available freshwater resources in the world, the different process of desalination including membrane and distillation desalination and their advantages and disadvantages. The report concludes that desalination of seawater is a sustainable resource of freshwater.

1. Introduction
The Western Cape, specifically Cape Town, is experiencing the worst drought in 100 years and human consumption is down to 50l per person per day. An alternative resources of freshwater needs to be found.
This report is aimed at the available resources of freshwater

Advantages and disadvantages of desalination
4.1 Advantages
Desalination provides water for human consumption from salt water. Islands in the Caribbean source most of their water through desalination of seawater. Saudi Arabia gets 70% of their freshwater through desalination. Even countries with plentiful freshwater resources can benefit from desalination as it can provide an emergency supply of water in times of a drought. (Ackerman, 2018)
The quality of desalinated water tends to exceed the standards for water quality. By using water from the ocean important water bodies on land can be protected, including the habitats around them.
Besides the disposal of brine, desalination can have a negligible effect on the environment. There is concern that the intake pipes of desalination plants can harm sea life and the ocean bed but with proper precautions this can be eliminated. The precautions include fitting special heads onto the pipes to prevent fish from being sucked in.
4.2 Disadvantages
Desalination plants have a very high initial cost of construction. Depending on the location of the site the cost can range from $300 million to $2.9 billion. The plants require a steady power supply and uses an enormous amount of energy, which increases the operational cost greatly. (Ackerman,

This salt cannot be disposed of by dumping it in the ocean as it will have a massive impact of the environment and animals. The salt will increase the salinity of the ocean water and decrease the oxygen content. The plants also use chemicals to treat the feedwater to make it compatible with the membranes, these chemicals pose a danger to the environment. There is a concern that the intake pumps of the desalination plant my cause erosion to the seabed and that fish and other sea animals may be sucked into the intake