How a Desert Made Water

It’s a hot mid-July day, and you spend your whole day playing at the beach in Tel Aviv. After being brutally sunburnt, even though you tried to reapply sunscreen as much as possible, and a few jellyfish stings, you decide it’s time to head back to your hotel. Once you’re back, you get ready and head to the dining room for dinner. The first thing you do when you sit down is pour yourself a big glass of water because the salty air of the Mediterranean made you extremely dehydrated throughout the day. You start to drink the water when you realize the water has a  weird taste. It was almost salty. This is because the water had been desalinated from the Mediterranean Sea and turned into clean drinking water. 

Something you might be thinking is if desalination water is even necessary, and the answer is yes. Throughout many parts of the world, access to clean water is a big challenge: “Around 4 billion people – two thirds of the global population- now experience extreme water scarcity for at least one month out of each year” (Israel21C). One viable solution to fixing this is water desalination. This works by the process of reverse osmosis. Reverse osmosis is when salt water is put into a high-pressure pump and though a semi-permeable membrane and comes out as clean water. 

A diagram of how reverse osmosis works.

This process can remove “up to 99% of the dissolved salts, particles, colloids, organics, bacteria, and pyrogens from the feed water” (Puretec). This creates clean drinkable water out of ocean water. 

Located in Tel Aviv, Israel is the world’s largest seawater desalination plant. The Sorek Desalination Plant has a capacity of 624,000m³/day. As well as the large capacity that the plant provides, the plant also costs $400 million to build. The process of desalination, reverse osmosis, is actually one of the most important parts, according to the plant. The plant provides drinking water for 10% of the country and 20% for domestic use. If you would like to learn more about the plant, click here.

This is the Sorek Desalination Plant located in Tel Aviv, Israel.

I believe that desalination is extremely important. The global water crisis is a very big issue, and desalination can play a big role in helping. Although desalination is a great solution, I don’t know how likely it is to succeed though. After doing some research, I discovered that most countries that are affected by the water crisis are impoverished. Desalination may work in wealthier countries such as Israel, but this is not a solution in impoverished countries. I would like to see a cheaper and easier alternative for getting water in the future. 

Discussion Questions

1. Do you have any ideas for making water cheaper and more accessible?
2. What are your thoughts on water desalination, and do you think it’s sustainable?

Works Cited

Kaplan-Zantopp, Max. “How Israel Used Innovation to Beat Its Water Crisis.” ISRAEL21c, 28 Apr. 2022, www.israel21c.org/how-israel-used-innovation-to-beat-its-water-crisis/. 

“Sorek Desalination Plant.” Water Technology, 2022, www.water-technology.net/projects/sorek-desalination-plant/#:~:text=The%20Sorek%20desalination%20is%20the,south%20of%20Tel%20Aviv%2C%20Israel. 

“What Is Reverse Osmosis?” Puretec Industrial Water, 2022, puretecwater.com/reverse-osmosis/what-is-reverse-osmosis#:~:text=Reverse%20Osmosis%2C%20commonly%20referred%20to,semi%2Dpermeable%20Reverse%20Osmosis%20Membrane. 

“10 Countries with Water Stress and Scarcity – and How We’re Helping.” Concern Worldwide, 1 Mar. 2022, www.concernusa.org/story/countries-with-water-stress-and-scarcity/.