Kuwait, desalination plan

Long dependent on Iraq for its supply of drinking water, Kuwait now covers 75 percent of its needs by desalinizing seawater. After treatment by instant thermal distillation (the “flash” system), water unfit for consumption is discharged into the sea, where it forms the image of a tentacular monster as it merges with the Persian Gulf. Each day, the earth’s seas provide us with 5 million gal (19 million L) of freshwater (or about 1 percent of the amount we consume in a day) thanks to 12,500 desalination units active in 120 countries. Two-thirds of the water comes from the sea, the rest from brackish water. Half is produced in the Gulf states, whose oil resources allow these countries to keep such energy-draining factories supplied and to employ still expensive technologies: one ton of fuel needs to be burned to produce, at most, 26,000 gal (98,420 L) of water. At a time when the freshwater supply is becoming a source of concern for a growing number of countries, the average American consumes 150 gal (570 L) of water per day (a mere flush of the toilet takes 2 gal [8 L]).