Impact of Water Reserves on the Economic - Case Study Example

The footprint of the desalination processes on the environment: A Critical Review Introduction The insufficient water reserves are posing a threat to the world’s economic development. This insufficiency has led to lowered living standards. The effects that this insufficiency has on people’s life today call for a change. This change has occurred in the reflection of desalination plants which are installed to access larger amounts of water resources for regular use processed from seawater and other salty water reserves. Hence, the desalination processes are increasing in order to provide abundant supplies of water to the world. The researches that are carried out in this area have been increasing and have taken an important place around the world. Researches have been conducted to understand the causes and effects of desalination plants on the environment, economy and people. One of research papers is “The footprint of the desalination processes on the environment” which is written by Rachel Einava, Kobi Harussi and Dan Perry. This research paper aims to analyze the effects of desalination plants and the disposal processes of concentrated brines on the environment. The article provides a number of reasons and a cluster of facts which are important for the study of environmental impacts that these desalination processes bring. The article achieves its aims efficiently to expose the effects of these processes on the environment. Summary The article under consideration is of great importance in the research area of desalination process. The author aims to present the key areas that are affected as a result of installation of desalination plants. The author describes ‘five’ aspects of environment which are affected, including: the effects on land use, aquifer, marine environment, increased noise and use of energy (p 143). The major problem that according to him requires attention is the process “to get rid of the surplus of concentrated brines.” (p. 147). The author emphasizes that brines, that emerge as a result of technologies and processes used in the desalination process, should be disposed of carefully to avoid any environmental problems associated with them. The author proposes the disposal of brines directly in to the sea via large pipes. The article provides a brief account of the disposal/discharging processes of different countries in the sea (p 150). The main idea behind this discussion is to explain the factors that affect the brine dilution. The two physical processes that are considered as a part of the whole brine dilution process are the primary (jet) dilution and the natural dilution (p 148). The jet dilution process is affected by the density differences between concentrated brines and seawater. The jet dilution process is also affected by the depth of the sea and the diameter of pipe used to discharge the concentrated brines. The environmental effects of desalination processes also affect the marine life. The author explains the species that are devastatingly affected by desalination processes like crabs. The article also summarizes the main advantages of desalination process that motivate their use in different countries. One of the basic advantages discussed in this article is the supply of ‘clean and filtered’ seawater with less dangers of pollution and stability of feed water temperature. The excess amount of feed water available, according to the author, then provides people with cheap water supply and proper use of this water may end up creating benefits for the country at large. Critique Regardless of its weaknesses, it must be noted that this article is a good source of introductory information for the readers. It provides the overview of the instances that are linked to such processes. The environmental impact of such plants is being discussed in detail outlining the five major areas that are affected. The in-depth analysis of the environmental effects of the desalination plants and processes on land use is inevitably a perfect research for people concerning this area. The supporting evidences provided by writer from existing literature are credible. The step by step exposure of information about the desalination plants, the processes involved and the impacts they have on the environment motivate the reader to study ahead. The article lacks coherent definitions, yet provides historical information of these processes. In general, this article is complete for the basic understanding to a large extent but requires further reading materials to understand the processes involved in desalination plants completely. This article is undoubtedly a great source of information for people who are associated with the research and education of environmental impacts of natural and manmade processes. The drawbacks of this article involve excessive amounts of areas that have been touched by the writer. The readers get involved in reading the article and grab important information from it but as the article proceeds the concepts begin to appear and disappear quickly. In his strive to produce a research paper having much information about the desalination processes on the environment, the writer has incorporated too many ideas and made it confusing for the reader. In addition, the article provides much in depth information about the effects of these plants and processes on land. The article that described 5 major areas of environment which are being affected badly can be judged as biased in its discussion. The whole article revolves around only one issue being explained thoroughly. The article under consideration lacks ample supporting resources for its arguments. The article lacks defining basic concepts properly For instance, a proper definition of desalination would have been useful for readers having no or less knowledge about the subject. The lack of defining of basic concepts about desalination process may indicate that this article is for people having the basic conceptions clearly in their minds. However, the continuous strive to explain the ideas in the simplest possible words without giving scientific references and processes that occur confuse us of the targeted audience of this article. Conclusion In conclusion, we can claim that the article lacks providing an unbiased discussion on all the impacts that these processes have, on the environment. However, the article is a good source of introductory information as it outlines the basic effects. The article could be improved by either cutting down the list of topics to be discussed or by increasing the length of the article to provide a balanced discussion area to each outlined issue. Moreover, the study could be improved by adding definition section for the readers with limited knowledge of this research area. The article is well-written and the language used is comprehensible for all readers. However, there is a need to add some more credible resources to improve the quality of information. Bibliography: Einav, Rachel, Kobi Harussi, and Dan Perry. "The Footprint of the Desalination Processes on the Environment." Desalination. 152.1 (2003): 141. Print. Read More