How feasible is it to obtain water supplies by desalination? By Adam, James and Liam

What is desalination? It refers to any of several processes that remove excess salt and other minerals from water. Why does it occur? Water is desalinated in order to be converted to fresh water suitable for human consumption or irrigation. Most of the modern interest in desalination is focused on developing cost-effective ways of providing fresh water for human use in regions where the availability of fresh water is limited.

Location of interest The Mediterranean sea - affecting the following countries… Spain Italy Greece Turkey France Cyprus Morocco Egypt

Reason for reliability on desalination The global average temperature rose by 0.6* during the 20 th century. It may not seem like much, but the Mediterranean is now likely to increase a further * from its original temperature. Thus implying harsh winters and hotter summers for the reliant countries, causing extremes to appear; such as droughts and floods. Decreasing the amount of available water for the countries to use, consume and produce. Also precipitation rates decrease, reducing the size of major rivers and other vital water supplies.

Freshwater availability in the Mediterranean Despite immense disparities between and within countries, the total natural renewable freshwater resource in the Mediterranean sea is quite low at only 1,200,000 hm3 This region holds only 3% of the world’s freshwater sources and a staggering 50% of the world’s ‘water poor’ populations. Each Mediterranean country differ considerably in their availability to a clean water source.

Countries affected by drought…

Its devastating effect… CausesImpactsIntermediate consequencesLong term consequences Reduced precipitationReduced flows in surface waterReduced water availabilityDecline in biodiversity Reduced infiltration for ground water recharge High concentration of pollution and toxicsLoss of aquatic eco-systems Warming of water bodies Severe changes in the coastal environment Aggravations Boost in nutrients in the water bodies Regression of dunes and deltas Reduced ground water levels Loss of species in flora and fauna Climate ChangeIncrease temperatureStalinization of aquifers Reduced precipitationSpread of invasive species Increase in Extreme weather events Loss of sedimentation for deltas and estuaries Bad water use planningReduced flows in rivers Non compliance with ecological flow regime Water pollution Over exploitation of aquifers

Socio-economic drought Disease increase Fire increase Harvest losses increase Shortage of water supply - Conflicts over water use - Restrictional water usage Meteorological cycle Precipitation decrease Humidity decrease Temperature increase Drought’s effect on the Mediterranean water cycle Agricultural drought Lack of water for soil Hydrological cycle Water level in surface water And aquifers

Is this desalination process sustainable? YES: - it uses a continuous natural resource which is easy to obtain and will remain for future generations to use. - its quick and efficient to do - schemes have been introduced for a sustainable future. e.g WWF

NO: - It is projected that by the year 2025 water demand will exceed supply by 56%, due to persistent regional droughts, shifting of the population to urban coastal cities, and water needed for industrial growth. - The supply of fresh water is on the decrease. - Water demand for food, industry and people is on the rise. - desalinating the water supply will cause more fresh water being dumped back into the oceans, causing increase in temperature and decrease in polar ice.

WWF (World Wide Fund For Nature) Have 4 key messages:  drought is a natural phenomenon and will appear more frequently in the near future.  if water is not managed wisely, both in rainy and dry years, drought will become ‘chronic’ and its impacts will increase, causing water Scarcity.  examples of water misuse are the increased irrigation in agriculture due to subsidies in EU countries, while non-EU countries have low efficiency in irrigation.  To avoid this, governments have to engage in a three-fold approach: manage demand, increase efficiency and apply integrated and sustainable water management.

Their proposals are: That both EU and non-EU countries manage water demands, increase the efficiency of water use and apply integrated/sustainable water management. Introduction of agricultural subsidies Creation of major dams and other infrastructures to help ease water loss. Improve relations between ‘cross borders’, allowing them to share a water resource eg. The Tigris.

Thanks for listening