The Desalination Verdict

Desalination is neither savior nor villain — it is a powerful tool with real trade-offs:

• Strengths — unlimited raw material, drought-proof, improving fast
• Weaknesses — energy-hungry, produces brine waste, costly to build
• Best suited for — coastal cities, island nations, wealthy arid regions
• Poor fit for — inland areas far from the coast, low-income regions short on energy
• Future potential — solar power and brine mining could ease the two biggest drawbacks

It belongs in a water-security portfolio, not as the whole strategy.