Water desalination...is it the optimal technology? Does it have any harm to the human body?

Weather of Arabia - Increasing water scarcity and the increased need for drinking water have prompted some countries to resort to water desalination technology. But is this technology the ideal solution? Does it carry risks worth noting?

Water safety and quality are fundamental to promoting human development and increasing human well-being. They constitute an essential element of health security and promote sustainable social and economic development.

Global climate change, increasing global population, and more diverse water needs are all factors that increase water scarcity and complicate the challenge we must face to ensure safe drinking water.

Developments in technology have opened up opportunities to use saltwater desalination techniques, and these techniques represent an increasingly promising alternative for producing safe drinking water.

What does desalination mean?

Desalination is a process that involves drawing salt water from the ocean and purifying it so that it becomes drinkable.

Desalination technology has been used as a result of water scarcity around the world, and has been increasingly developed and promoted in areas near the oceans that suffer from a shortage of fresh water supplies.

Risks of desalination

Desalination affects living organisms

It is believed that the disappearance of some organisms from drainage areas may be related to the influx of salt water. Marine biologists warn that large-scale desalination could result in serious losses in ocean biodiversity.

The reason for this is that the intake pipes of desalination plants mainly discharge millions of plankton, fish eggs, marine larvae and other microscopic organisms that form the base layer of the marine food chain, and accidentally kill these organisms.

Therefore, desalination plants have the potential to negatively impact the population of environmental organisms in the ocean.

Desalination affects the digestive system

Desalination is not a perfect technology, and desalinated water can be harmful to human health as well. Desalinated water can contain byproducts from the chemicals used in the desalination process, and these products can enter the "pure" water and put people drinking it at risk. Additionally, desalinated water can be acidic, which may affect your digestive system.

Desalination increases the risk of heart disease

A study indicates that drinking desalinated water increases the risk of heart disease. The study showed that people who drink desalinated water show an increased risk of heart disease compared to people who drink regular water.

This increase in the risk of heart disease is due to a lack of magnesium in desalinated water. Magnesium plays a vital role in the human body and is considered essential and important for heart health.

Desalination may affect the environment

The water desalination process requires the use of chemicals before treatment and cleaning, and these materials are added to the water before the desalination process to increase the efficiency and success of the treatment.

These chemicals include chlorine, hydrochloric acid, and hydrogen peroxide, which are only used for a limited period of time. When these chemicals lose their ability to purify water, they are discarded, which is a major environmental concern.

These chemicals often find their way into the ocean, which can pollute the marine environment and poison the plants and animals that live there. The use of these materials must be carefully monitored and managed to minimize negative environmental impacts.

Desalination may increase the risk of cancer

Desalination can significantly reduce the concentration of some minerals, such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, in desalinated water. Drinking water containing very low concentrations of these minerals can cause electrolyte disturbances in the body, such as hyponatremia, hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypocalcemia.

The relationship between individuals' exposure to desalinated water and the likelihood of developing malignant tumors (cancer) is not yet well understood. More research needs to be conducted to better understand this relationship and determine the extent to which drinking desalinated water affects human health and the likelihood of disease.

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Source: webteb