Global Desalination Overview

More than 21,000 desalination plants now operate worldwide, producing roughly 100 million cubic meters of freshwater a day. The Middle East leads, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE out front, but capacity is expanding on every continent.

Israel has become the model case: a network of large plants supplies about 70 percent of its domestic water, at costs that have dropped close to those of conventional water treatment. As prices fall, desalination is shifting from a last resort to a mainstream water source.