A projected world market for seawater desalination equipment

The market for large-scale seawater desalination plants (above 19,000 m3 per day) was forecasted. The conclusions were based on various sources including responses to questionnaires sent to 300 water agencies in 61 countries (60 per cent response rate), the published market growth trend from 1971 to 1983, and an analysis of the geography, rainfall, population, industrial growth and energy availability in the countries concerned. The authors suggested that the seawater desalination market was becoming saturated. However, they emphasized the importance of the market to replace worn out and obsolescent equipment. They expected seawater reverse osmosis to represent 270,000 m3 per day by the end of the century because of technological improvements in membrane systems and components. Population and financial data, and a summary of the results of market projections by country are given in tables.