Desalination is fast emerging as a viable solution to the drinking water shortage the world over. India has taken a few good strides towards this end.

Commissioning of desalination plants to meet the drinking water needs of people is a concept that is fast emerging in India in recent years, after the West had succeeded in converting seawater into drinking water. A Rs 1,000 crore- desalination plant that is to be set up in Minjur near North Chennai by the IVRCL Infrastructure and Projects, to generate 100 million litres of water per day, is bound to bring relief to this water-starved metro.

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam too is a votary of desalination plants. A few years ago, he said 'There are many technologies in desalination. A cost-effective methodology has to be selected to suit the need of our country. The most important aspect is the type of energy we use in the desalination method. Every country has to use the energy that is easily available in the country. For example, in the UAE, they use gas and oil for desalination process. From the type of conditions that prevail in our country, solar power energy can be one of the options for this purpose. Before, we proceed with the project, it would be better to go in for a project report reconciling the technology and energy sources that suit our needs.'

According to a study, there are over 7500 desalination plants across the globe, of which at least 60 per cent are located in the Middle East. The world’s largest plant in Saudi Arabia produces 128 MGD of desalted water. In contrast, 12% of the world’s capacity is produced in the Americas, with most of the plants located in the Caribbean and Florida.

'Investigations have shown that desalination is among the most cost effective options for boosting water supply in major Australian state capitals. The city of Perth, for example, in Western Australia, has been successfully operating a reverse osmosis seawater desalination plant since 2006, and the West Australian Government has announced that a second plant will be built to service the city's needs,' says an online article.

However, desalination is best suited and cost-effective for regions that are in proximity to oceans. Supplying desalinated water to a place like Delhi, which is away from the sea, will be an expensive affair. The cost of transporting water to a city like Delhi from a desalination point must also be factored for. However, for a Metro like Chennai bordering the coastline, desalination is an ideally suited technology that remains untapped.

An expert points out that Israel was desalinizing water for just 53 cents per cubic meter and Singapore for 49 cents per cubic meter. Other large coastal urban cities in developed countries are increasingly looking at the feasibility of seawater desalination, due to its cost effectiveness when compared to other water supply augmentation options.

He further indicated that the proposed Minjur plant is not Chennai’s first experiment with desalination. 'The Chennai Port Trust had planned for a desalination plant to meet the water requirement inside the harbor and its residential complex at Tondiarpet'. 'The technology had been successfully experimented at Kalpakkam, where 45,000 people are getting uninterrupted drinking water thanks to a technology developed by the Bhaba Atomic Research Center (BARC), which could convert seawater into drinking water at a cost of just Rs. 2.50 a litre,' he said.