COMPARATIVE ECONOMICS OF CURRENT AND ADVANCED DESALTING SYSTEMS.

A comparative investigation of the economics of desalting based on current and projected technology has been made. Current operating costs of various plant types operating in Israel are reported. These costs range from less than . 4/m**3 for membrane plants desalting brackish water to more than three times as much for thermal plants desalting seawater. For new systems, two plant sizes were evaluated: 4,000 m**3/day plants applying current technology and 100,000 m**3/day plants applying projected technology. The water costs obtained for the various plant types and applied economic parameters, especially energy prices, range between . 2/m**3 and . 6/m**3 for brackish water desalting and from . 5/m**3 to 2. 4/m**3 for seawater desalting.