London has become the first city in Britain to install a
desalination plant -- a facility normally found in deserts that
converts salty seawater into drinkable freshwater. The plant was
built after the Environment Agency described the capital as
"seriously water-stressed", which indicates that demand can
exceed supply in times of drought. The plant bears the
inauspicious name of "The Thames Gateway Water Treatment Works",
and can be found in Barkin in East London. It can pump out a
whopping 140 million litres a day at full pelt, but most of the
time it's planned to keep it switched off, because desalination
requires a whole lot of energy -- about twice as much as a
conventional water treatment plant. Unfortunately, with London's
population expected to expand by 700,000 over the next 10 years
(the Greater London Urban Area currently sits at 8.3 million),
and the effects of climate change starting to bite, the plant
will likely have to be called into use increasingly often.
Thankfully, it shouldn't have too hef