[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:48:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","global",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"water",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","7d21d40872087c176ff87e65f1d2edbe","Entry","2021-11-11T07:07:42.848Z","2023-11-27T09:10:57.000Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",34,13,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":57,"wrongPercentage":94,"name":95,"questionText":96,"statistics":97,"veryWrongStatistics":99,"correctSentence":101,"youWereWrong":102,"youWereRight":103,"dataSourceShortText":104,"dataSourceLinkLongText":105,"extendedAnswerText":106,"headingVeryWrong":107,"youWereVeryWrong":108,"headingWrong":107},"48",[38,60,77],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":55},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":52,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"10b41feacb106f1a370cb014405eb2dc","2021-11-11T06:53:20.964Z","2023-09-04T09:02:31.933Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},15,9,{"sys":53},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},"answer",{"globalId":56,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":59},"48-a1",false,true,"\n30",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":74},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":72,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"fa9abcb3beda2a57d97afc0f62f21824","2021-11-11T06:53:22.527Z","2023-09-04T09:02:31.973Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":73},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":75,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":76},"48-a2","100",{"metadata":78,"sys":81,"fields":91},{"tags":79,"concepts":80},[],[],{"space":82,"id":84,"type":21,"createdAt":85,"updatedAt":86,"environment":87,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":89,"locale":34},{"sys":83},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"e2a691e40eafc408c5bd37b238e5b6c2","2021-11-11T06:53:23.902Z","2023-09-04T09:02:32.011Z",{"sys":88},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":90},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":92,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":93},"48-a3","180",84,"How many countries (out of 195) have at least one ","How many countries (out of 195) have at least one desalination plant, removing salt from salt water?",[98],"uk 0.84",[100],"uk 0.54","Almost all countries have desalination plants dedicated to the extraction of salt from seawater, not just hot and dry countries.","Almost all countries have technology for removing salt from seawater, and you thought it was just half of them.\n","They wrongly think almost no countries have desalination plants, when in fact almost all have. ","Source: IDADesal","This data from IDADesal covers desalination plants found globally between July 2019 and June 2020. The Inventory is collected on an annual basis by Global Water Intelligence (GWI) and the International Desalination Association (IDA), and aims to be a comprehensive dataset of every desalination plant with a capacity greater than 500,000 litres per day. \n\n[1]  [IDA-Desal - 183 countries where desalination is practised](https:\u002F\u002Fidadesal.org\u002F)  \n[2]  [Yale environment 360 - Desalination plants on the rise and the consequences](https:\u002F\u002Fe360.yale.edu\u002Ffeatures\u002Fas-water-scarcity-increases-desalination-plants-are-on-the-rise)  \n[3]  [World Bank report on desalination](https:\u002F\u002Fidadesal.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F04\u002FWorld-Bank-Report-2019.pdf )  \n[4]  [Wikipedia - desalination ](https:\u002F\u002Fen.wikipedia.org\u002Fwiki\u002FDesalination)\n[5]  We consulted four independent experts for this question, including John Lienhard of MIT.","Globally, 300 million people get their drinking water from desalination plants, but most of the freshwater from them is used for agriculture or industry. If you live in a country with enough drinking water provided naturally, you have most likely never come across desalinated water. In dry areas it is of higher importance to find alternative sources of water. As desalination becomes increasingly popular globally, we need to consider the consequences of these practices and how to properly handle the waste products.\n\n### Why is it a problem that people are wrong about this?\nWe often hear about a coming water crisis because of a warming climate and a growing global population. What we rarely hear about are the solutions. A problem without a solution such as this causes hopelessness and people may give up on the issue.\n\nWe now have extensive global networks of desalination plants that provide freshwater to countries and people across the world. But if we don’t even know these facilities exist, we will not see the value in investing in them. \n\n### Why are people wrong about this?\nWe often see news reports talking about the increasing global population and the increasing pressures this is placing on the earth’s natural resources, including our water supplies. Naturally this causes concern, as we rarely hear about the extensive efforts and resources being put in place to solve these problems.\n\n### Are we going to run out of freshwater?\nAs the demand for water intensifies globally with a growing population and more consumption, technologies and methods of producing freshwater must improve. Water recycling, rainwater collection, desalination plants and irrigation systems all combine to increase our water efficiency and use less water.\n\n### Is desalination the solution to the water crisis?\nSome cities have run out of freshwater, and desalination could become a solution, but unfortunately desalination in massive volumes does also have problems. There are two kinds of desalination technology: \n1) Thermal, which heats up water and then captures the condensation. \n2) Reverse osmosis, which forces seawater through the pores of a membrane. The first method requires lots of energy and the latter produces byproducts with environmental problems such as the salty waste (brine) left over from the process, which can be harmful if released back into our oceans. Pulling in seawater also damages the coastal seabed, and risks pulling in fish and other living plants and animal species. \n\n### Can I trust this data?\nYes. This data comes from IDADesal, considered to be the best source for data on desalination plants. We have also cross-checked this source with three experts in this field and they agree with the data. \n\n### Where can I learn more?\nLearn about [Desalination](https:\u002F\u002Fen.wikipedia.org\u002Fwiki\u002FDesalination) at Wikipedia. \n\nRead this World Bank report about [the future of desalination](https:\u002F\u002Fidadesal.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F04\u002FWorld-Bank-Report-2019.pdf). ","Drinkable oceans","Almost all countries have technology for removing salt from seawater, and you thought it was just a few."]