Large-scale desalination is a process through which ocean water is pumped to a treatment facility where the salt is extracted through a process of reverse osmosis to make the water fit for domestic use. San Diego County is currently constructing the largest desalination plant in the western hemisphere, at a cost of $1 billion. That plant, located in Carlsbad, will provide enough safe water for approximately 300,000 people, and will serve as a major test of the feasibility and expense of utility-scale desalination technology when it begins operation in November.
One of the major downsides of desalination is that it is massively energy-hungry and expensive at the tune of $2,000 an acre foot, and there’s something undoubtedly difficult about generating substantial carbon emissions to address a problem caused by climate change. The United Arab Emirates, however, began testing a solar-powered desalination system in 2011 that would not only be greener, but also cheaper. And now, California-based start-up WaterFX has developed their own homegrown solar-powered desalination system.