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RhynoD t1_j6jb07i wrote

Reply to comment by Thoscellen in ELI5 Why is desalination so hard? by MiloFrank76

That explanation is good but I think it underestimates just how much energy it takes to evaporate water, especially at scale. Yeah, you can use a power plant but we're already struggling to generate the power that we need in ways that aren't destructive to the environment.

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konwiddak t1_j6jmd3k wrote

In any real world plant that operates via evaporation, most of the energy used to boil off the water is re captured via the heat exchangers used to condense the steam back into water. This heats the incoming water. (Most are multi stage running different parts at different temperatures/pressures.) Overall its a pretty efficient process, with reverse osmosis a bit more efficient.

However the amount of water that we use for not drinking purposes, irrigation, washing e.t.c is massive.

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