Although three-quarters of our planet is covered with water, only 2.5% of this water is fresh water, and most of it is trapped in glaciers and underground. By 2026, climate change-induced droughts, rapid population growth and industrialization are consuming existing freshwater reserves at a rate never seen in history. At this point, freshwater production (desalination) from seawater turns from a luxury into a necessity. So why is desalination at such a critical juncture?
Depletion of Fresh Water Resources: Alarm Bells Are Ringing
More than 2 billion people around the world currently do not have access to safe drinking water. Large rivers are drying up, groundwater is being withdrawn, and there are sharing crises in intercontinental water basins. Especially countries in the Mediterranean climate zone are among the regions that feel water stress most intensely.
The Increasing Appeal of Seawater Desalination
Technological developments, especially the increase in efficiency in reverse osmosis systems, have reduced the cost of desalination facilities by half in the last 20 years. The energy spent to purify one cubic meter of seawater is now much lower than in the past. This paved the way for countries such as Saudi Arabia, Israel and the UAE to meet most of their water needs from the sea.
The Inevitable Future: Towards 2030
Experts predict that there will be a 40% gap between global water demand and supply by 2030. One of the most sustainable ways to close this gap is to take advantage of the oceans, an unlimited resource. For countries with coastlines, desalination is seen as the strongest insurance policy against climate change.
Conclusion
Although desalination poses challenges such as high energy consumption and salty waste management, these problems are quickly being solved thanks to the integration of renewable energy. Countries that want to prevail in the water wars of the 21st century have to invest in the seas to produce the water we call blue gold.