China, with its rapid industrial gr

China, with its rapid industrial growth, has also experienced an increased demand for water as well as energy.
To overcome the shortage of both, China built a combined power and desalination plant in Zhejiang Province in the 1970s. Since then, salt water has been taken from the East China Sea and converted into fresh water.
Some of this fresh water is then sold to industry, and the remainder is sold as drinking water.

Unfortunately, desalination is an expensive process using large amounts of energy, but research is currently being carried out into the development of more efficient technology using a combination of different methods.
To supply water to 25% of the world's population living within 25 kilometres of the sea, more desalination plants are expected to be built in the future.
The hope is that the technology currently being developed will lower the costs and help solve the problem of water shortages in many parts of the world.