25/11/2020 - Environment

Kindly provide feedback. Thank you Mam/Sir

KEY POINTS

What are desalination plants?

·        A desalination plant turns salt water into water that is fit to drink. The most commonly used technology used for the process is reverse osmosis where an external pressure is applied to push solvents from an area of high-solute concentration to an area of low-solute concentration through a membrane.

·        The microscopic pores in the membranes allow water molecules through but leave salt and most other impurities behind, releasing clean water from the other side. These plants are mostly set up in areas that have access to sea water.

Feasibility

·        Desalination has largely been limited to affluent countries in the Middle East and has recently started making inroads in parts of the United States and Australia.

·        In India, Tamil Nadu has been the pioneer in using this technology, setting up two desalination plants near Chennai in 2010 and then 2013. The two plants supply 100 million litres a day (MLD) each to Chennai. Two more plants are expected to be set up in Chennai.

Is it ecologically safe?

·        The high cost of setting up and running a desalination plant is one reason why the Maharashtra government has over the last decade been hesitant in building such a plant.

·        Desalination is an expensive way of generating drinking water as it requires a high amount of energy.

·        The other problem is the disposal of the by-product highly concentrated brine  of the desalination process. While in most places brine is pumped back into the sea, there have been rising complaints that it ends up severely damaging the local ecology around the plant.

Pls review

Please review

Kindly provide feedback. Thank you Mam/Sir