“Turning Oceans into Tap Water” by Ted Levin
Onearth. New York: Summer 2004 Vol. 26, iss. 2; pg. 28

It is a well-known fact that only 3% of Earth’s water is freshwater, and therefore drinkable if accessible. It is also held to be true that two-thirds of this water is inaccessible because it is the frozen water making up the polar ice caps and glaciers. This leaves less than 1% of all the water on Earth available for us to drink. So how exactly do we go about getting more water to drink? Pinellas County in Florida is attempting to answer that question by planning the construction of the largest desalination plant in the country.
Desalination is a practice used for millions of years in nature by certain animal and plant species, but as far as humans are concerned, it is a new, expensive, a problematic process. Desalination involves taking saltwater and purifying it by removing mineral salts and other solids. One major concern of many naturalists is that the left over mineral salts and solids will contaminate and pollute water supplies in a very harmful way. The larger issue at hand however, is that desalination is just curing a symptom of the overall problem.
Overpopulation is becoming more and more of a problem. The idea of desalination is coming up because the water resources are being used to the point of exhaustion. Not only will desalination not cure that problem, but it will only encourage continued overpopulation. Yes, it’s true that the current residents need their water needs to be met, but by building such a massive desalination plant, it is as though they are preparing for more newcomers and further development.
I’m not suggesting that I can provide any other solution that would be more effective in dealing with this problem. Desalination does seem to be an obvious choice for this particular case in Pinellas County. The plant’s effluent is released into Apollo Beach waters, an area that’s water is constantly refreshed, an attribute that would greatly minimize raising the concentration of salt. But this sort of action with water management can only support growth, which is the core of the problem.
This is just another example of America dealing with the immediate solution, not taking the time or effort that would solve problems instead of hide them until they kill us. Resources could be put into tapping water from another source and transporting it, or even developing a relatively undeveloped area with a more abundant water supply. These sorts of actions could entice people to move to other places and spread out the populations instead of having one region overpopulated with too few resources and other regions having more resources than the local population needs.
Whatever the solution will be, it is very unlikely that it will be found in the construction of a desalination plant. Imagine the consequences if this desalination plant is successful. Whatever handfuls of formerly untouched, pristine beaches are left in this country will be lined with these plants. No matter how effective the effluent removal process is, shoreline ecosystems would not be able to deal with those levels of salt in such a high concentration.
The environmental problems in this country should be dealt with more intelligently. Whatever plans are drawn up for solving a problem should consider the impact five, twenty, and fifty years down the road. If there is not a change in the attitude of dealing with these problems, we are surely going to witness our own self-destruction in this generation’s lifetime.