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Desalination: A Means of Increasing Irrigation Water Sources

for Sustainable Crop Production

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DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.69312

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 Chapter 3

Desalination: A Means of Increasing Irrigation Water

Sources for Sustainable Crop Production

OrevaOghene Aliku

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69312

Abstract

Globally, water resources for agricultural production have been on the decline. This is
associated with increase in water demand over limited resources and poor quality water
that adversely affects crop quality and yield and deteriorates soil properties. Even though
soil salinity has been affecting agriculture for thousands of years, significant research has
been conducted only in the past 100 years. Desalination, which is the process of reduc‐
ing the salt content in water to an acceptable level, could be an alternative for improving
water quality, thereby increasing water sources and reducing the competition among
various users of water. Thus, desalination could lead to improved crop quality, improved
crop yield, enhanced all‐year round crop production, and as such become an important
tool for effective agricultural water management.

Keywords: salinity, reverse osmosis, forward osmosis, irrigation water, crop production

1. Introduction

As more than 60% of rainfall, the primary source of water for agriculture is lost to evapotrans‐
piration [1], with the continuous increase in human population and its resultant increase in
water demand which is expected to nearly double its size in the next 50 years, the exploitation
of the available water resources and the advent of climate change with its global warming
effect on available water for crop production, the search for new, sustainable and drought‐
proof water resources is inevitable [2]. He further stated that since agricultural activities con‐
sume more than 60% of the total water demand, using treated wastewater for irrigation can
reduce depletion of groundwater significantly. In Refs. [1, 3], it was stated that water‐scarce
countries especially the Middle East countries located in the arid and semi‐arid zones will
have to rely more on the use of non‐conventional irrigation water resources such as saline

© 2017 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
48 Desalination

aquifers to partly alleviate water scarcity. Although, the present freshwater resources may
soon be insufficient to meet the growing demand for food [4], most of these drought‐proof
water resources contain dissolved solids and chemicals such as salts. The application of these
water resources for irrigation purposes often result to the detrimental effect of salinization of
soils, environmental degradation and low crop yield.

Salinization is one of the land degradation processes rendering millions of hectares of land
unproductive for crop cultivation. It was stated in Ref. [5] that salinization is one of the
most serious land degradation problems facing the world. According to El‐Swaify [6], salin‐
ity is when an ‘excessive’ amount or concentration of soluble salts occurs in the soil, either
naturally or as a result of mismanaged irrigation water. Although, he further reported that
salt‐affected soils are most abundant in arid regions worldwide, the extent of saline soils is
variable [7], whereas Yan et al. [5] stated that soil salinity vary in time and space. Salts are
often introduced into soil and water systems via the use of excessive inorganic fertilizers
which are leached or washed away as runoff into underground water bodies used for irriga‐
tion purposes. According to El‐Swaify [6], salts in soil and irrigation water may be either natu‐
rally present as products of geochemical weathering of rocks and parent materials or derived
directly from sea water flooding, spray or intrusion into groundwater sources and/or caused
by irrigation mismanagement, particularly when internal soil drainage is impeded. Due to
the presence of salts, most saline lands are virtually uncultivated in the dry season because
of strong salinity and lack of water in good quality and quantity [7]. According to Gleick [8],
almost half of the human population suffers insufficient access to portable water, and water
scarcity in agriculture has been considered to be a global crisis [9].
Hence, desalination, which is any process that removes salt from water [10] to produce desali‐
nized water, is increasingly considered a source of water for agriculture [4]. Even though soil
salinity has been affecting agriculture for thousands of years, significant research has been
conducted only in the past 100 years [11]. Thus, this review highlights some of the effects of
salinity on soil and crop growth and yield, and some possible methods of desalinization of
water and soil resources for optimum utilization in a crop production system.

2. Effects of salinity on soil and crop

Different salts, cations and anions vary in their effects on plants and soils, and as such differ‐
ences in ionic compositions of soil solutions and waters with similar electrical conductivity
values may lead to dissimilar effects [6]. Salinity may adversely affect soil structure and other
physical properties, and this could finally be transmitted to crop growth and development.
For instance, the breakdown of soil structure can exacerbate salt effects on crops through
increased surface crusting, germination inhibition and reduced permeability, porosity and
aeration [6]. In Ref. [12], it was reported that soil infiltration rate was greatly affected by
sodicity and electrolyte concentration of the irrigation water. In Ref. [13], it was reported that
increasing salinity and sodicity resulted in a progressively smaller, more stressed microbial
community which was less metabolically efficient. Saline soils have been reported to contain
 Desalination: A Means of Increasing Irrigation Water Sources for Sustainable Crop Production 49
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69312

sufficient salts at the root zone to impair crop growth [7]. Also, Corwin et al. [14] noted salin‐
ity as one of the most significant soil properties influencing cotton yield in a response model.
In Ref. [15], it was reported that the emergence of sunflower and maize was affected by salin‐
ity and that the higher the salinity, the lower the leaf area and the dry matter production.

2.1. Desalination

Desalination describes a range of processes which are used to reduce the amount of dissolved
solids in water [16]. Also, Nofal [17] defined desalination as the removal of excess salt and
other minerals from water in order to get fresh water suitable for drinking water, animal
consumption and irrigation purposes. It is used to produce clean water from water sources
containing dissolved chemicals, and in most cases, water sources are salty, producing fresh
water from sea water or brackish water [16]. They further stated that natural waters may
be classified approximately according to their total dissolved solid (TDS) values as listed in
Table 1. Desalination is a water saving alternative to brackish water irrigation even though its
diffusion as a viable method of water treatment has been limited by high costs and concern
about the lack of plant nutrients in desalinated water [17]. In Ref. [4], it was also confirmed
that desalination not only separates the undesirable salts from the water but also removes
ions that are essential to plant growth. Although, a recent report concludes that the costs of
desalination remain prohibitively expensive for full use by irrigated agriculture [18], for high
value cash crops like green‐house vegetables and flowers, its use may be economically fea‐
sible [4]. According to Smith and Shaw [16], low‐cost methods of desalination by distillation
are also available.

2.2. Prospects of desalinized water for agriculture

Due to the impact of climate change which has led to uncertainty in the amount and duration
of rainfall for crop production, 69% of global water supply is being channelled for irrigation
purpose [19]. As a result, present fresh water resources may soon be insufficient to meet the
growing demand for food [4]. Although, at present, sea water desalination provides 1% of
the world’s drinking water, desalinized water is increasingly considered a source of water
for agriculture [4]. In some countries, farmers have already adopted the use of desalinized

Type of water Total dissolved solids (mg/L)

Sweet waters 0–1000

Brackish waters 1000–5000

Moderately saline waters 5000–10,000

Severely saline waters 10,000–30,000

Seawater More than 30,000

Source: Smith and Shawerji [16].

Table 1. Classes of natural waters.

50 Desalination

brackish water for crop production. For instance, Mechell and Lesikar [20] reported that
∼22% of water desalinated in Spain are used for agricultural irrigation purposes, whereas an
Australian survey found that 53% of the population envisioned desalinated water usage for
irrigation of vegetables as highly likely.

2.3. Benefits of desalination

Desalination is a water saving alternative to brackish water irrigation [17]. By implication,

it could increase the possible sources of water for irrigation, and as such enhance sustain‐
able all‐year round crop production. According to Ref. [4], the low level of salinity of desali‐
nized water is an extra benefit, because the salts [especially Sodium (Na+) and Chlorine (Cl−)]
damage soils, stunt plant growth and harm the environment. Hence, desalinized water could
improve the quality of irrigation water thereby reducing the possibilities of the incidence of
soil salinity with its consequent adverse effect on crop growth and yield via its deteriorat‐
ing effects on soil properties. Furthermore, desalination could increase the size of land area
for cultivation, the number of crops (including salt sensitive crops) cultivated, improve crop
quality, increase crop productivity and increase the broad band of water use for other pur‐
poses [17]. Desalination has been reported to improve farmers’ income [17].

2.4. Techniques in desalination

According to Refs. [10, 21], techniques used in a desalination process essentially separates
saline water into two parts, hence, two streams of water are produced.

(a) Treated water that has low concentrations of salts and minerals.

(b) Concentrate or brine, which has salt and mineral concentrations higher than that of
the pre‐treated water.

It is often associated with electrical generation plants, from which both electricity and waste
heat are available [16]. Some of these desalination methods could be relatively expensive,
whereas others such as desalination by distillation could be low‐cost methods. According
to Refs. [10, 21], the two major types of technologies used for desalination can be broadly
classified into thermal technologies (multi‐stage flash distillation, multi‐effect distillation and
vapour compression distillation) and membrane technologies (electrodialysis/electrodialysis
reversal and reverse osmosis), with reverse osmosis, and distillation followed by condensa‐
tion being two main desalination methods [16]. In Ref. [10], it was stated that both technolo‐
gies need energy to operate and produce fresh water. However, the most appropriate method
can be selected on the basis of the total dissolved solids (TDS) value of the raw water (Table 2).

2.5. Thermal technologies

These technologies involve the eating of saline water and collecting the condensed vapour distil‐
late to produce pure water [10]. In Ref. [21], it was reported that thermal distillation technologies
are widely used in the Middle East, primarily because the region’s petroleum reserves keep
 Desalination: A Means of Increasing Irrigation Water Sources for Sustainable Crop Production 51
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69312

Process Total dissolved solid value (mg/L)

Ion exchange (not described here) 500–1000

Electrodialysis 500–3000

Reverse osmosis (standard membranes) 500–5000

Reverse osmosis (high‐resistance membranes) Over 5000

Distillation Over 30,000

Source: Smith and Shawerji [16].

Table 2. Suitability of desalination process based on the total dissolved solids.

energy cost low. However, thermal technologies have rarely been used for brackish water desali‐
nation, because of the high cost involved [10]. According to Refs. [6, 21], thermal technologies are
grouped into three major large scale processes, i.e., multi‐stage flash distillation (MSF), multi‐
effect distillation (MED) and vapour compression distillation (VCD). They stated that solar dis‐
tillation, which is another thermal technology, is typically used for very small production rates.

2.5.1. Multi‐stage flash distillation (MSF)

This process of distillation involves the use of several (multi‐stage) chambers [10]. According
to Ref. [21], this process sends the pre‐treated saline water through multiple chambers as
illustrated in Figure 1 [22]. In the MSF process, each successive stage of the plant operates at
progressively lower pressures. In Ref. [21], it was explained that the pre‐treated saline water is
heated and compressed to a high temperature and high pressure, and the pressure is reduced
as the water progressively passes through the chambers, causing the water to rapidly boil. In
other words, the pre‐treated water is first heated under high pressure as it is passed into the
first ‘flash chamber', where the pressure is released, causing the water to boil rapidly, result‐
ing in sudden evaporation or ‘flashing', which continues in each successive stage, because the
pressure at each stage is lower than that of the previous stage [10]. The vapour produced by
the flashing is then condensed on a heat exchanger tubing that runs through each stage and
collected as fresh water. Generally, only a small percentage of the pre‐treated saline water is
converted into vapour and condensed [10].

2.5.2. Multi‐effect distillation (MED)

The MED process has been used since the late 1950s and the early 1960s [10]. According to
Ref. [21], the MED employs the same principles as the MSF process except that instead of
using multiple chambers of a single vessel, MED uses successive vessels (Figure 2), i.e., MED
occurs in a series of vessels, using the principles of evaporation and condensation at reduced
ambient pressure [21]. Here, water is produced by a series of evaporator vessels at progres‐
sively lower pressures. Water boils at lower temperatures as pressure decreases, such that the
water vapour of the first vessel serves as the heating medium for the second, and so on [10].
According to Ref. [21], the multiple vessels make the MED process more efficient, while [10]
stated that the more the vessels, the higher the performance ratio of the MED.
52 Desalination

Figure 1. An illustration of the multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) process (Source: Buros, 1990).

Figure 2. A schematic diagram of a multi-effect distillation (MED) process (Source: [22]).

2.5.3. Vapour compression distillation (VCD)

The VCD can function independently or in combination with other thermal distillation pro‐
cesses such as the MED [10, 21]. According to Ref. [23], the heat for evaporating the pre‐
treated saline water comes from the compression of vapour, rather than the direct exchange
of heat from steam produced in a boiler (Figure 3). It usually involves the use of a mechanical
compressor to generate heat for evaporation [10]. Vapour compression distillation unit are
commonly used to produce fresh water for small‐ to medium‐scale purposes such as resorts,
hotels and industrial applications [21].

2.5.4. Solar distillation

This involves the use of solar energy for water desalination as shown in Figure 4. Also, Buros
[21] stated that although the designs of solar distillation units vary greatly, the basic prin‐
ciples are the same. They explained that the sun provides the energy to evaporate the saline
water, and the water vapour formed from the evaporation process then condenses on a clear
glass covering before it is collected as fresh water in the condensate trough. The clear glass or
 Desalination: A Means of Increasing Irrigation Water Sources for Sustainable Crop Production 53
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69312

Figure 3. An example of a vapour compression distillation (VCD) process (Source: [22]).

Figure 4. An example of a solar still distillation process (Source: [22]).

plastic covering is used to transmit radiant energy and also to allow water vapour to condense
on its interior surface before it is collected as fresh water. Alike VCD, solar desalination is
generally used for small‐scale operations [21].

2.6. Membrane technologies

According to Ref. [21], there are several membrane treatment processes, including reverse
osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration and microfiltration. These processes involve the use of
a barrier, which is a membrane, and a driving force. The membranes contain pores which dif‐
fer in sizes according to the type of process (Figure 5). It was explained in Ref. [21] that mem‐
brane technologies often require that the water undergo chemical and physical pre‐treatment
54 Desalination

Figure 5. An illustration of the range of nominal membrane pore sizes for reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF),
ultrafiltration (UF), and microfiltration (MF) (Source: [23]).

to limit blockage by debris and scale formation on the membrane surfaces. The general char‐
acteristics of membrane processes are presented in Table 3. Membrane technologies can be
subdivided into two broad categories: electrodialysis/electrodialysis reversal (ed/edr) and
reverse osmosis (RO) [10]. According to Ref. [21], the driving force used in electrodialysis
or electrodialysis reversal is an electrical potential, whereas that used in reverse osmosis is a
pressure gradient.

2.6.1. Electrodialysis and electrodialysis reversal (ED/EDR)

This is a voltage‐driven membrane process in which an electrical potential is used to move

salts through a membrane, leaving fresh water behind as product water [10]. In Ref. [21], it
was explained that the membrane used for ED/EDR are built in such a way that they only
allow passage of either positively or negatively charged ions, but not both. Here, ionic mol‐
ecules, such as sodium, chloride, calcium and carbonate in saline water, that are known to
cause adverse effects on soil and crop productivity are removed from the treated water as the
cations are attracted to the negative electrode, whereas the anions are attracted to the positive
electrode while passing through selected membranes. According to Ref. [10], the membranes
are usually arranged in an alternate pattern, with anion‐selective membrane followed by a
cation‐selective membrane. He further explained that during this process, the salt content
of the water channel is diluted, while concentrated solutions are formed at the electrodes.
Concentrated and diluted solutions are created in the spaces between the alternating mem‐
branes, and these spaces bound by two membranes are called cells [10]. The pre‐treated saline
 Desalination: A Means of Increasing Irrigation Water Sources for Sustainable Crop Production 55
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69312

Membrane Membrane Typical Operating Typical Permeate Typical constituents

process driving force separation structure (pore operating description removed
mechanism size) range (μm)
Microfiltration Hydrostatic Sieve Macropores 0.08–2.0 Water + TSS, turbidity,
pressure (>50 nm) dissolved protozoan oocysts
difference or solutes and cysts, some
vacuum in bacteria and viruses
open vessels

Ultrafiltration Hydrostatic Sieve Mesopores 0.005–0.2 Water + small Macromolecules,

pressure (2–50 nm) molecules colloids, most
difference bacteria, some
viruses, proteins

Nanofiltration Hydrostatic Sieve + Micropores 0.001–0.01 Water + Small molecules,

pressure solution/ (<2 nm) very small some hardness,
difference diffusion + molecules, viruses
exclusion ionic solutes

Reverse osmosis Hydrostatic Solution/ Dense (<2 nm) 0.0001– 0.001 Water + Very small
pressure diffusion + very small molecules, colour,
difference exclusion molecules, hardness, sulfates,
ionic solutes nitrate, sodium,
other ions

Dialysis Concentration Diffusion Mesopores – Water + small Macromolecules,

difference (2–50 nm) molecules colloids, most
bacteria, some
viruses, proteins

Electrodialysis Electromotive Ion Micropores – Water + ionic Ionized salt ions

force exchange (<2 nm) solutes
with
selective
membranes

Source: Metcalf and Eddy [22].

Table 3. General characteristics of membrane processes.

water passes through all the cells simultaneously to provide a continuous flow of desalinated
water and a steady stream of concentrate from the stack [10]. Although the ED was originally
conceived as a seawater desalination process, it has generally been used for brackish water
desalination [10].
According to Refs. [10, 21], the EDR functions in a similar way as the ED. However, El‐Swaify
[6] explained that the only exception to the EDR operating on the same general principle as the
ED unit is that both the product and the concentrate channels are identical in the EDR, whereas
Buros [21] also explained that the polarity or charge of the electrodes is switched periodically
in the reverse process. Immediately following reversal, the product water is removed until
the lines are flushed out and the desired water quality restored [10]. They explained that the
reversal in flow of ions helps to remove scaling, slimes and other debris from the membranes
before they accumulate in large amount, thus extending the system’s operating life.
56 Desalination

2.6.2. Reverse osmosis

In relation to thermal processes, reverse osmosis is a relatively new process that was com‐
mercialized in the 1970s [10, 24]. Currently, it is the most widely used method for desalination
in the United States [10]. This process of desalination uses a pressure gradient as the driv‐
ing force to move high pressure pre‐treated saline water through a membrane that prevents
the salt ions from passing, thus, yielding the product water stream and a concentrated brine
stream as shown in Figure 6, respectively [10, 21]. In other words, reverse osmosis utilizes
hydraulic pressure to offset osmotic pressure and induces mass transport of water across a
semi‐permeable membrane [25]. This is simply applying pressure (in excess of the osmotic
pressure) to the saline water [16]. Osmotic pressure (π) is calculated using the Van’t Hoff
equation:

π = MRT​
​ (1)

where M is the molar concentration of dissolved species; R is the ideal gas constant and T is
the temperature on the Kelvin scale.

According to Ref. [10], high pressure pumps supply the pressures between the range of
150 psi for slightly brackish water to 800–1000 psi for salt water, to enable the water to pass
through the membrane and have the salt rejected. It is worthy to note that the membrane is
easily torn and needs to be supported carefully [16]. Due to the fact that the membrane of
the reverse osmosis process consists of small pores, the salt water needs to be filtered first
to remove particles which might damage the membranes, while chemical additives may be
added to prevent biological growth and scaling [16, 21]. This is very important as the mem‐
brane surfaces must remain clean [10].

The individual spiral reverse osmosis membrane element through which the high pressure
pre‐treated saline water flows are constructed in a concentric spiral pattern that allow alter‐
nating layers of pre‐treated water and brine spacing, reverse osmosis membrane and a porous
product water carrier (Figure 7) [21]. The porous product water carrier allows the fresh water
to flow into the centre of the membrane element to be collected in the product water tube.
According to Ref. [10], the reverse osmosis processes are used for desalinating brackish water
(TDS > 1500 mg/L) and seawater. Although membrane desalination processes using reverse
osmosis or nanofiltration are diffusion‐controlled membrane processes [25], also, Krishna [10]

Figure 6. Basic components of a reverse osmosis membrane treatment process (Source: [21]).
 Desalination: A Means of Increasing Irrigation Water Sources for Sustainable Crop Production 57
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69312

Figure 7. Dissected view of a spiral reverse osmosis membrane element (Source: [22]).

explained that unlike nanofiltration, which is a membrane process that is used for the removal
of divalent salt ions such as calcium, magnesium and sulphate, reverse osmosis is used for the
removal of sodium and chloride.

According to Ref. [26], following mass balance equations are commonly used to describe
reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membrane process performance. Equation (2) indicates
mass balance for water flow:

​Qf​​​ρf​​= ​Qp​​​ρp​​+ ​Qc​​​ρc​​​

​ (2)

where Qf is feedwater flow rate (m3/d); ρf is density of feedwater; Qp is permeate flow rate
(m3/d); ρp is density of permeate; Qc is concentrate flow rate (m3/d) and ρc is density of
concentrate.

Equation (3) describes mass balance for solute flux:

​Qf​​​Cf​​ = ​Qp​​​Cp​​+ ​Qc​​​Cc​​​

​ (3)

where Cf is feedwater solute concentration, units of mass per volume (mg/L); Cp is permeate
solute concentration, units of mass per volume (mg/L) and Cc is concentrate solute concentra‐
tion, units of mass per volume (mg/L).

2.6.3. Forward osmosis

Forward osmosis is used to describe the use of osmosis as a salt‐water separation mecha‐
nism through an engineered membrane. It is an emerging membrane treatment process that
belongs to the class of osmotically driven membrane processes [25]. It was first presented by
Cath et al. [27] and could also be called direct osmosis. Unlike reverse osmosis where pressure
is applied to the pre‐treated saline water and a low salinity permeate is produced, forward
osmosis involves a semi‐permeable membrane which separates a high osmotic pressure ‘draw’
58 Desalination

solution from the pre‐treated saline water with relatively lower salinity and osmotic pressure.
Here, water is drawn across the membrane by natural osmosis, restricting the passage of salts
at the membrane surface. In Ref. [25], it explained that when equal volumes of a dilute feed
solution and a concentrated draw solution are separated by a semi‐permeable membrane,
water flows into the concentrated draw solution, which has a higher osmotic pressure. This
flow continues until chemical equilibrium is reached. The increase in water column height in
the high osmotic pressure chamber at equilibrium equates to the difference in osmotic pres‐
sure between the dilute and concentrated solutions. Thus, forward osmosis uses the osmotic
pressure differential (Δπ) across the membrane, rather than the hydraulic pressure differential
as in reverse osmosis, as the driving force for transport of water through the membrane. The
transport of water in forward osmosis is described in Eq. (4):

​JW
​ ​ ​ = ​KW
​ ​(σΔπ − ΔP )​ (4)

where JW = water flux; Δπ is differential osmotic pressure across the membrane; KW is water
permeability coefficient of the membrane; σ is reflection coefficient (a measure of the relative
permeability of a particular membrane to a particular solute) and ΔP is differential applied
pressure across the membrane.
Past research has shown that forward osmosis membranes are good barriers to a broad range
of contaminants, including bacteria, protozoa, viruses and other dissolved organic and inor‐
ganic constituents in contaminated water [27]. Also, in comparison to other desalination pro‐
cesses such as the multi‐stage flash, multi‐effect distillation and reverse osmosis, McGinnis
and Elimelech [28] estimated that the forward osmosis has relatively lowest relative energy
consumption (Figure 8). The authors estimated that forward osmosis with a thermally decom‐
posing draw solution [such as in the forward osmosis low temperature distillation (FO‐LT)
process which incorporates the use of low‐quality heat for thermal decomposition of the draw
solution and recovery using distillation columns] would use less than one‐third the work
energy of reverse osmosis for desalination.

2.7. Application of desalinated water in irrigated agriculture

According to Ref. [1], the amount of fresh groundwater or agricultural activities is negligible
and exists only in some locations. He further stated that desalination of brackish and saline
water seems to be promising, especially in the absence of any other alternative. In spite of this,
the cost of desalinated water are still too high for full use of this resource in irrigated agricul‐
ture, with the exception of intensive horticulture or high‐value cash crops, such as vegetables
and flowers grown in greenhouses [29]. In Refs. [1, 29], reverse osmosis was reported to be the
preferred desalination technology for agricultural uses because of the cost reductions driven
by improvements in membranes in recent years. An example of countries that have adopted
the application of desalinated water for irrigated agriculture is Spain. According to Ref. [30],
Spain has more than 300 treatment plants with most of the plants processing brackish water,
and located in coastal areas or within 60 km of the sea. It was also noted in Ref. [29] that small
and medium size brackish water desalination plants, with a capacity of less than 1000 m3/d
(11.6 L/s), are common because they adapt better to individual farmer requirements and to
 Desalination: A Means of Increasing Irrigation Water Sources for Sustainable Crop Production 59
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69312

Figure 8. Estimated energy consumption for desalination processes (Source: [29]).

the existing hydraulic structures. As irrigated agriculture does not require the strict standards
that apply for drinking‐water requirements, opportunities appear to exist for the adoption of
high‐quality desalinated water, and in this way, the final cost of a cubic metre of irrigation
water can be reduced [29].

3. Conclusions

Salinity arises from various natural and human‐induced processes and is a major phenom‐
enon that deteriorates soil properties, thus limiting the potentials of soils for sustainable crop
production. Desalinated water is usually of high quality and can have less negative impact
on soils and crops in comparison with direct use of brackish water. Thus, water desalination
could have positive impacts on agriculture and the environment, such as increasing water
availability and recycling poor‐quality water. The use of osmotic and distillation mechanisms
to recover high quality water from wastewater effluents and saline waters could be high‐tech
demanding especially when considering desalination of large volume of water for irrigation
and other forms of utilization.

Although, the use of low‐tech distillation methods could be easily adopted by peasant farm‐
ers in rural communities, the use of reverse osmosis has been said to be the most suitable
for irrigated agriculture. As some of the processes involved in desalinizing saline water for
sustainable crop production could be expensive, it could also be cost‐effective, owing to the
60 Desalination

fact that desalination could save water for agricultural production, increase the amount and
types of crops grown, the area of land cultivated and as such improve the quality of crop yield
and farmers’ income.

Author details

OrevaOghene Aliku
Address all correspondence to: orevaoghenealiku@gmail.com

Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

References

[1] Baalousha H. Desalination status in the Gaza Strip and its environmental impact.
Desalination. 2006;196:1-12

[2] Texas Water Development Board. The Future of Desalination in Texas: Biennial Report
on Seawater Desalination. Austin, Texas: Texas Water Development Board; 2010

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