What is Desalination?
[[File:Shevchenko BN350 desalinati.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Shevchenko BN350 desalination unit situated on the shore of the Caspian Sea.]] '''Desalination''' means any process that removes the excess [[sodium chloride|salt]] and other [[mineral]]s from [[water]] in order to obtain [[fresh water]] suitable for [[animal]] consumption or [[irrigation]]. Most desalination is by [[distillation]]. Some is by [[reverse osmosis]] or other methods. The main purpose is to make water for people to use. The salt is usually carried away as [[brine]] but in some places the solid salt is extracted.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Panagopoulos|first1=Argyris|last2=Haralambous|first2=Katherine-Joanne|last3=Loizidou|first3=Maria|date=2019-11-25|title=Desalination brine disposal methods and treatment technologies - A review|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719334655|journal=Science of the Total Environment|volume=693|pages=133545|doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.351|pmid=31374511|s2cid=199387639|issn=0048-9697}}</ref> Desalination of [[brackish water]] is done in the [[United States]] in order to meet treaty obligations for river water entering [[Mexico]]. Several Middle Eastern countries have energy reserves so great that they use desalinated water for [[agriculture]]. [[Saudi Arabia]]'s desalination plants account for about 24% of total world capacity. The world's largest desalination plant is the ''Jebel Ali'' Desalination Plant (Phase 2) in [[United Arab Emirates|UAE]]. It uses multi-stage flash distillation, dual-purpose and it is capable of producing 300 million [[cubic meter]]s of water per year.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.swcc.gov.sa/index.asp |title=Saline Water Conversion Corporation |access-date=2007-04-14 |archive-date=2007-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406211701/http://www.swcc.gov.sa/index.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref> ==Methods== #[[Distillation]] ##[[Multi-stage flash distillation|Multi-stage flash]] (MSF) ##[[Multiple-effect evaporator|Multiple-effect]] (MED|ME) ##[[