Technical, Environmental and Economic Review of Salt Water Desalination and Analysis for Iran

Saltwater desalination technologies have evolved as an effective and reliable solution for water supply over the last few decades. The development of desalination units in the southern coasts of Iran, is considered as one of the main solutions for sustainable water supply. In this research, by studying the three leading countries in seawater desalination, the improvement path of their facilities have been evaluated, and optimal model for the development of desalination units in Iran has been presented. According to the results, four challenges of salty wastewater, damage at the inlet, high energy consumption and the poverty of minerals is observed in desalinated water. Based on the findings, increasing the country's current capacity in seawater desalination from 585,000 to 1,150,000 m3/day is needed to sustainably supply the drinking needs of water-deficient provinces. Based on the economic analysis, including the price of subsidized electricity in Iran, the total price of each cubic meter of water for near the coast, Kerman, Yazd and Birjand is estimated to be 432, 702, 972 and 1026 thousand Rials, respectively. Also, in terms of salinity and environmental issues, the location of sweetening units on the coasts of Makran has an advantage over the Persian Gulf.