Desalination Dilemma
by Peter Gleick
Why don't we get our drinking water from the ocean by taking the salt out of seawater?
Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, distills an answer:
Why don't we desalinate more to alleviate shortages and growing water conflicts?
The problem is that the desalination of water requires a lot of energy. Salt dissolves very easily in water, forming strong chemical bonds, and those bonds are difficult to break. Energy and the technology to desalinate water are both expensive, and this means that desalinating water can be pretty costly.