The history of water treatment in the US has covered a lot of ground. From the use of large-scale filtration to the introduction of chlorine as a viable treatment and disinfection option over one hundred years ago, water treatment has evolved into a diverse field, employing different geographical or treatment techniques. Even now, water treatment professionals are coming up with more efficient and effective means of delivering safe water to the public.
One of the methods of treatment that’s developing into a viable source of drinking water is desalination. This process is generally where brackish water or salt water is “desalinated” to produce fresh water suitable for human consumption or irrigation. One potential byproduct of desalination is salt, though minerals and soil particles are also byproducts. Desalination is already currently used on many seagoing ships and submarines. Most of the modern interest in 
desalination is focused on developing cost-effective ways of providing fresh water for human use; on our Facebook page last week, we posted a link to an article highlighting the efforts to use desalination in Texas for both water consumption and hydroelectric power generation. This combination would provide power and water to a state entering it’s third year of drought.
For a short overview of a water desalination plant and the career opportunities and education required for this field, we’ve posted a link to a short video on our Facebook page. As the US looks to more and more sources for our water supply, water desalination is quickly emerging as a logical and efficient use of our oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, and brackish groundwater sources.
