The world’s oceans hold about 97% of the Earth’s water, and it’s all undrinkable. As water scarcity increases on a global scale, it brings added meaning to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous refrain: “Water, water everywhere, / Nor any drop to drink.”
That’s why companies are taking an increased interest in desalination, despite its drawbacks.
“Desalination is the most expensive way to make water, and there’s no getting around it,” Tom Pankratz, an industry expert, told the Wall Street Journal.
Compared to reservoirs and aquifers, desalination plants have both a higher financial cost and huge environmental costs. In addition to being energy-intensive, the process is deadly for marine life.
As large pipes draw in seawater, small fish, larvae, and other ocean organisms are often swept up, too. The filtration of concentrated…
