The recent high temperatures experienced across Europe in June has once again brought into sharp focus the pressure on our freshwater supplies. Technology in the form of desalination, particularly for those countries with access to seawater, will become increasingly important. The question is, can this technology deliver on the scale required in response to increasing drought conditions in the coming years and decades.
Consider Cyprus, a popular destination for millions of tourists each year. It suffers from freshwater scarcity, and the issue becomes more acute each year as temperatures soar and drought conditions prevail during the summer months. The country meets its freshwater requirements through a combination of conventional and unconventional water sources; the former consists of captured surface water and groundwater while the latter includes desalination plants which provide about half the island’s drinking water.
Rivers in Cyprus tend to flow only in the winter when there is rain and snow melt in the Troodos mountains. There are over 100 dams and reservoirs across the island with a maximum total capacity of about 330 million cubic meters (mcm); the capacity of the dams varies significantly, the smallest being just 32,000 cm and the largest being 115 mcm. Following a highly productive rainy season, Cyprus’ dams are currently at about 42% of their total combined capacity, or about 120 mcm of freshwater.
The Lefkara Dam provides water for the city of Larnaca and surrounding villages. Its maximum capacity is almost 14 mcm but is almost always much less than this; for example, in the summer month of June 2026 the capacity was less than 20%, or about 2.7 mcm, as shown in the photo in the chart. The Ras Al-Khair plant in Saudi Arabia that can produce over 1 mcm per day; this plant alone, then, could produce the current 2.7 mcm of freshwater in less than 3 days, and remarkably, it could fill the entire Lefkara reservoir to capacity in just two weeks.
Desalination is an expensive process and there are, rightly, concerns about the environmental impacts associated with the energy used and the brine waste produced. Nonetheless, as the world tries to adapt to higher temperatures and increasing drought conditions in many parts of the world, desalination at scale offers hope for those countries with limited natural freshwater resources and access to the sea.
For more information on this technology, see Desalination and Water Security, Chris Anastasi, Routledge 2024.