A water expert is cautioning developing countries over the establishment of water desalination plants as a means of providing potable water to the populace.

Jeremy Crutchfield of the San Diego County Water Authority in the USA says desalination (the treatment of seawater through the removal of salt) is a very expensive process because of the high cost of operation including the vast amount of electricity needed to operate such plants.

Water companies would usually establish treatment plants along rivers and streams which are not salty so the processing requires fewer inputs.

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