Effects of population growth on Israel’s demand for desalinated water

Abstract

In 2005, Israel began using desalination to augment limited natural water supplies. While desalination has helped Israel overcome chronic water shortages, high-population growth may test this approach. We examine how three population growth scenarios (low, medium, high) could affect water demand and supply by 2065. Our projections show that Israel will need to desalinate as much as 3.7 billion m3 annually, compared to 0.5 billion m3 in 2020. Meeting this demand could require the construction of 30 new desalination units. The effects of population growth on Israel’s water supply are likely to dwarf those of climate change. Increased desalination would, however, increase electricity demand, requiring over 11 TWh electricity annually. Population growth is also likely to challenge Israel’s wastewater management policies, producing more effluent than farmers will have the capacity to consume. The Israeli experience will provide important lessons for regions facing similar pressures.

Lifetime optimisation of integrated thermally- and electrically-driven solar desalination plants

“…As of 2018, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that one in three people globally are without access to clean water [1] whilst the number without access to electricity is set to rise for the first time in decades [2]. At the same time, the demands for power [3][4][5] and clean water [6,7] have continued to increase globally, both as populations rise [6,[8][9][10] and also as lower-income countries develop economically [11] and increase their standards of living [12][13][14]: current freshwater withdrawals range by a factor of over 60 between low-income and high-income countries, from 20.90 litres/capitaday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to 1342 litres/capita-day in the United States of America as of 2020 [15]. Desalination, the process of converting saline water into potable water [16], currently accounts for around 0.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions [17] with only about 1% of desalination currently powered by renewable energy [18].…”

A Redox-Electrodialysis Model with Zero Fitting Parameters: Insights into Process Limitations, Design, and Material Interventions

“…2 Considering significant population growth in the coming decades, even nations that currently meet annual water demands will need to drastically increase production. 3 These figures highlight the need for increased access to stable water resources, which can be addressed using more saline water sources that are far more abundant than freshwater (<500 ppm total dissolved solids, TDS). Specifically, seawater (∼35,000 ppm TDS) and brackish groundwater (1,000-10,000 ppm TDS) can potentially be treated with desalination technologies to meet global freshwater demands.…”