n.
or desalting
Removal of dissolved salts from seawater and from the salty waters of inland seas, highly mineralized groundwaters , and municipal wastewaters.
Desalination makes such otherwise unusable waters fit for human consumption, irrigation, industrial applications, and other purposes. Distillation is the most widely used desalination process; freezing and thawing, electrodialysis, and reverse osmosis are also used. All are energy-intensive and therefore expensive. Currently, more than 2 billion gallons (8 million cu m) of fresh water are produced each day by several thousand desalination plants throughout the world, the largest plants being in the Arabian Peninsula.