Dear Mr. Aing:The cost of ...

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Dear Mr. Aing: The cost of seawater desalination varies depending on many factors including source water slainity, temperature, solids content, plant location, intake and outfall type, and many others. Based on analysis of over 40 SWRO desalination projects constructed in the last 5 years, the cost of water production of SWRO plants is between US$0.5 and US$3.0/m3 and averages US$1.1/m3. The energy use of the SWRO system is between 2.5 and 4.0 kWh/m3 and averages 3.1 kWh/m3. Please note that this is only the energy use of the RO separation system - the energy for collection, pretreatment, post-treatment and delivery are not included becasue they are site specific. The Desalination Library of this site contains two presentations ; "Energy Use for Seawater Desalination" and "How Much Does Seawater Desalination Cost?" which provide greater detail on the factors and costs associated with seawater desalination. All information contained in the Desalination Group library is availalbe free for use/download by all Desalination Group members.