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There are now about 21,000 desalination plants in operation around the globe. The biggest ones are in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Israel. The world's largest desalination plant is located in Saudi Arabia Ras Al-Khair Power and Desalination Plant with a capacity cubic meters per day.
Desalination is currently expensive compared to most alternative sources of water, and only a very small fraction of total human use is satisfied by desalination. It is usually only economically practical for high-valued uses in arid areas. However, there is growth in desalination for agricultural use, and highly populated areas such as Singapore or California. The most extensive use is in the Persian Gulf.
While noting costs are falling, and generally positive about the technology for affluent areas in proximity to oceans, a 2004 study argued, Desalinated water may be a solution for some water-stress regions, but not for places that are poor, deep in the interior of a continent, or at high elevation. Unfortunately, that includes some of the places with biggest water problems. and, Indeed, one needs to lift the water by or transport it over more than to get transport costs equal to the desalination costs.
Thus, it may be more economical to transport fresh water from somewhere else than to desalinate it. In places far from the sea, like New Delhi, or in high places, like Mexico City, transport costs could match desalination costs. Desalinated water is also expensive in places that are both somewhat far from the sea and somewhat high, such as Riyadh and Harare. By contrast in other locations transport costs are much less, such as Beijing, Bangkok, Zaragoza, Phoenix, and, of course, coastal cities like Tripoli. After desalination at Jubail, Saudi Arabia, water is pumped inland to Riyadh. For coastal cities, desalination is increasingly viewed as a competitive choice.
Not everyone is convinced that desalination is or will be economically viable or environmentally sustainable for the foreseeable future. Debbie Cook wrote