Gregory Thiel presents an informative look at the technology and economics of seawater desalination through reverse osmosis. California, evidently, is moving strongly toward such desalination to deal with its water shortages.1
Two issues spring to mind, however—one environmental, the other societal. What is to be done with the concentrated toxic salty brine produced by seaside desalination plants? I’m reminded of the still-existing problem of nuclear waste disposal. Also, through desalination, millions worldwide will no doubt benefit from access to clean, fresh water. Would that not then exacerbate the problem of population growth, which, as Thiel says, “threaten[s] to throttle our most essential, life-sustaining resource” in the first place? There are significant repercussions, I think, and no quick technological fixes to deal with them.
