2. The removal of dissolved salts from seawater and in some cases from the brackish waters of inland seas, highly mineralized ground waters; such as, geothermal water that is saturated or strongly impregnated with salt, and municipal waste waters.
The process of desalination includes removal of dissolved salts from sea water and from the salty waters of inland seas, highly mineralized ground waters, and municipal waste waters.
The process of desalinationmakes such otherwise unusable waters fit for human consumption, irrigation, industrial applications, and for other purposes.
Distillation, or condensation from a vapor, is the most widely used desalination process; freezing and thawing, electrodialysis, and reverse osmosis are also used. All are energy-intensive and therefore expensive; so, for this reason, it is generally used only where sources of fresh water are not economically available.
Currently, more than two billion gallons (eight million cubic meters) of fresh water are produced each day by several thousand desalination plants throughout the world, the largest producers are apparently are in the Arabian Peninsula.