Why Is Desalination So Difficult?

An overview of seawater desalination: removing salt to make drinkable water from the ocean. Correction: The Carlsbad plant produces 50 MGD, which is roughly 190,000 cubic meters per day (not 23,000 as stated). It might surprise you to learn that there are more than 18,000 desalination plants operating across the globe. But, those plants provide less than a percent of global water needs even though they consume a quarter of all the energy used by the water industry. The oceans are a nearly unlimited resource of water with this seemingly trivial caveat, which is that the water is just a little bit salty. It’s totally understandable to wonder why that little bit of salt is such an enormous obstacle. Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: Signed copies of my book (plus other cool stuff) are available here: Practical Engineering is a YouTube channel about infrastructure and the human-made world around us. It is hosted, written, and produced by Grady Hillhouse. We have new videos posted regularly, so please subscribe for updates. If you enjoyed the video, hit that ‘like’ button, give us a comment, or watch another of our videos! CONNECT WITH ME ____________________________________ Website: Twitter: Instagram: Reddit: Facebook: ​ Patreon: SPONSORSHIP INQUIRIES ____________________________________ Please email my agent at practicalengineering@ DISCLAIMER ____________________________________ This is not engineering advice. Everything here is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Contact an engineer licensed to practice in your area if you need professional advice or services. All non-licensed clips used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes. SPECIAL THANKS ____________________________________ This video is sponsored by Brilliant. Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images, Shutterstock, and Videoblocks. Music by Epidemic Sound: Tonic and Energy by Elexive is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License Source: Video by Grady Hillhouse Edited by Wesley Crump Written and Produced by Ralph Crewe Production Assistance from Josh Lorenz Graphics by Nebula Studios