The problem of the demand for fresh water is greatly exacerbated by the increasing consumption of water as a result of the increase in human population growth around the world on the one hand, and the persistence of the problem of climate change and global warming on the other hand. We do not want to talk about international problems and the possibility of wars due to the conflict over water in the riparian countries on the rivers, but we are talking about air pollution. Building more desalination plants leads to the release of larger quantities of toxic and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, etc. Are there solutions to control pollutants, or are there desalination plants that do not use fossil fuels?
The most widely used process in desalination plants is distillation. At present, almost 90% of desalinated water is produced by distillation, the rest by processes using membranes, such as electrodialysis and reverse osmosis which requires energy most often supplied by fossil fuels which have the environmental disadvantage of emitting air pollutants, including carbon dioxide (CO2), oxides of sulfur and nitrogen and solid particles. Distillation consists of heating seawater by using solar energy, for example, which is not polluting. Some stations use thermal energy which comes from fuel oil, which is definitely polluting. Other stations around the world use nuclear energy which does not pollute the atmosphere but which presents a certain number of disadvantages.
Regards
Dear Bachir Achour
Thanks again and again for your valuable answers.
The Arabian Gulf countries use the desalination plants, which is more fast and efficient than the rest methods. Even the distillation technique needs a lot of efforts and people to run it, the matter that make the first technique is more reliable but with environmental risks.
Regards
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