Jordan is planning a major desalination plant on the Gulf of Aqaba – but will it damage nearby marine ecosystems?
The Carlsbad Desalination Plant in Southern California is the largest such plant in the Western Hemisphere, providing 50 million gallons of desalinated seawater per day.
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Australian politicians have a history of opting for high-cost, high-emissions desalination projects. The Queensland government is still wary of using the largely untapped resource of recycled water.
We need a radical rethink of water resource planning. Strategies should include reusing water and moving water physically to water-scarce areas.
The old village of Aceredo, submerged 30 years ago when a hydropower dam flooded the valley, emerged during a drought in northwestern Spain, in February 2022.
(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Water is central to adapting to climate change, but very few of the strategies put in place to respond to water hazards or ensure its availability have been evaluated.
New technologies that can clean salty or polluted water could help meet growing water needs.
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Desalination can help meet growing water needs globally. But toxic wastewater and inefficiency hamper current techniques. A new approach uses custom membranes to clean water more easily.
Cities relied entirely on conserving and recycling water to get through the last big drought. We now have desalination plants, but getting the most out of our water reserves still makes sense.
The largest desalination plant in Australia, Victoria’s A$3.5 billion ‘water factory’ can supply nearly a third of Melbourne’s needs.
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Sydney and Melbourne are bringing desalination plants back on stream and Adelaide plans to increase its plant’s output. Perth depends on desalination. But is it the best way to achieve water security?
Some sea creatures are displaced by the desalination plant, but others actually grow.
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Australian cities have turned to some very costly solutions when water is scarce. But as the world’s second-highest users of water per person, more efficient use and recycling are key.