Drinking water from the oceans.
Concerning one of the largest specialized exhibitions of Water Resources Association of German Professional Water and gas industry (Verein Deutscher Gas-and Wasserfachmanner) along with other digital material published a series of static data, serious and funny at the same time the content. The subject of statistical computing has become the growth dynamics of water flow in WC Germany. Until we have from year to year so we will just lower the drain more and more water, we should not be surprised that we have to invest heavily in developing new sources of fresh water.
In March 1973 a group of French companies proudly alerted in the specially issued a booklet on the construction of the world's largest desalination plant. The order for its construction in Shuaiba has been received from oil sheikhs of Kuwait, with huge financial resources. The construction of such a facility in Kuwait is quite clear: This is a state located in the desert, in fact, very poorly with fresh water. The power of this monster in the Persian Gulf, the construction of which went 4 tons of copper, 6 times the capacity of desalination plant, which until it was considered the world's largest. Basically it is a weave of many tubes total length of 2.5 thousand km through which the powerful pumps drive more than 1.5 million m3 of water per day. The yield of fresh water is significantly less than one tenth of this amount. The residue is poured into the sea again, only this time the water becomes warmer than 10 ° C and has a higher salt content than ever before.
Despite the high cost of thermal energy, which on a scale equivalent to the electricity consumption West Berlin, this technology is quite cost-effective. 1 m3 of fresh water is about 40 pfennig. 6 years ago the cost of fresh water, extracted from the sea, was twice as high. The production costs of fresh water will continue to decline. The heat required for this process and ensures high nuclear reactors, so it will be cheap. After all, nuclear reactors produce also has a large amount of power.
No one can predict today what the impact will have on ocean currents warm the monstrous pickle. We only know that it is in coastal marine fauna and flora are extremely sensitive to even small temperature changes and react to the slightest changes in salt concentration. Perhaps for that reason, early associated with such projects is too high expectations. The need for building costly distribution system of waste water crosses the optimistic calculations, showing the profitability of the technology.