Seawater

Seawater

Dasheem Smith

SCI/209

July 5, 2015

Linda Martin

Seawater

Water is often taken for granted. This essay will cover two methods for converting seawater into drinking water. Seawater is actually converted differently in different countries; however, this article will address two for a specific country. There are a few benefits to converting seawater, and of course some hazards as well. Most people do not understand the composition of seawater, this article addresses this concern. Clearly, seawater is more complex than one may think, starting with the chemical and physical appearance.

Seawater is composed of a mixture of various salts and water. Seawater is very salty because of the dissolved substances. These include sodium chloride, metals, and other salts. There is enough salt in the ocean to cover the entire planet! (Trujillo, 2014). The major constituents in seawater are; chloride, sodium, sulfate, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. In fact seawater is 220 times saltier than freshwater. Water is made up of molecules; these are groups of two or more atoms held together by mutually shared electrons. Seawater is salty, but people have found ways to use it to our advantage by converting seawater into drinkable water.

Reverse Osmosis is a process of desalination for seawater. In reverse osmosis water molecules pass from a freshwater solution to a saltwater solution, using pressure. Currently United States uses this method in Tampa Bay. According to Trulia (2014), Saudi Arabia houses the largest reverse osmosis plant in the world producing 128 million gallons of water daily. Using this method has some benefits. Cost, and longevity. Households in the US use this process everyday with water purifiers. Every positive usually has some negatives, no difference here. The problem with reverse osmosis is the membranes become clogged often needing replacement frequently and are flimsy. Thankfully advanced materials eliminate these problems because their...