There are roughly 22,000 operational desalination plants, located across 177 countries, which generate an estimated 95 million m3/day of fresh water to over 300 million people daily. Micro desalination plants operate near almost every natural gas or fracking facility in the United States. Furthermore, micro desalination facilities exist in textile, leather, food industries, etc.
As of December 7, 2023, Shoaiba Power and Desalination Plant, located on the Red Sea coast, managed by the Saline Water Conversion Corporation, holds the record for the highest production capacity globally, generating 2,998,000 cubic meters of desalinated water per day.
There are multiple types of water desalination systems but the two most used are thermal and membrane. Thermal systems use heat to evaporate the water, separating it from the salt and then condensing the steam to collect the fresh water. Membrane systems use high pressure to push the water through a series of sieves. The sieves membranes are big enough to allow the water to pass through but small enough to trap the salt, minerals and other impurities.
Operating desalination plants
The following table is a list of operating desalination plants. Criteria for inclusion on this list include: that it's operating (not proposed or decommissioned), and has a capacity of at least 100,000 cubic meters per day or it's the largest in its country. excludes desalination plants used primarily for mining +Table of operating desalination plants (A-Q) Country Name Capacity (per day) Coordinates Completion AlgeriaAïn TémouchentBéni SafBeni Saf Desalination Plant2009AlgiersAlgiersHamma Desalination Plant2008BéjaïaToudjaTighremt Desalination Plant2025 Boumerdès Djinet Cap Djinet Desalination Station (Reverse Osmosis)2012DjinetCap Djinet 2 Desalination Station (Reverse Osmosis)2025ChlefTénèsTenes Desalination Plant 36.014149, 0.1283392015El TarfBerrihaneKoudiet Eddraouche Desalination Plant2025MostaganemMostaganemTEC Sonaghter Desalination Plant2012OranMers El HadjadjMagtaa Reverse Osmosis (RO) Desalination Plant2014 Aïn El KermaCap Blanc Desalination Plant2025SkikdaSkikdaSkikda Desalination Plant2009TipazaFoukaFouka Desalination Plant2008FoukaFouka 2 Desalination Plant2025 Tlemcen Souk Tlata Souk Tlata Desalination Plant2011HonaineTlemcen Hounaine Desalination Plant2011 Australia New South Wales Sydney Sydney Desalination Plant 2012 Queensland Gold Coast Gold Coast Desalination Plant 2009 South Australia Adelaide Adelaide Desalination Plant 2012 Victoria Dalyston Victorian Desalination Plant 2012 Western Australia Cape Preston Cape Preston Desalination Plant 2012 Perth Perth Seawater Desalination Plant 2006 Binningup Southern Seawater Desalination Plant 2012 BahrainMuharraq IslandAl HiddAl Hidd Desalination Plant2000 BarbadosSaint MichaelBridgetownIonics Desalination Plant ChileAtacama RegionCalderaCaldera Desalination Plant ChinaTianjinTianjinBeijing Desalination Plant CyprusLarnacaLarnacaMN Larnaca Desalination Co2001 GermanySchleswig-HolsteinHelgolandCombined Desalination Plants for Island1998 IndiaTamil NaduChennaiMinjur Seawater Desalination PlantNemmeliNemmeli Desalination Plant 2012 Israel Central PalmachimPalmachim Desalination PlantSorek Desalination Plant 2013HaifaHaderaHadera Desalination Plant SouthernAshdodMekorot's Desalination PlantAshkelonAshkelon Desalination Plant Kazakhstan Mangystau AktauMangystau atomic-enegretic combinate120,000m3 1968Caspiy desalination plant2011Kendirli desalination facility50,000 m342.785932, 52.6443542025 Kuwait Ahmadi Mina Abd Allah Shuaiba North Desalination Plant Shuaiba South Desalination Plant Zour Az-Zour Desalination Plant Capital Shuwaikh Shuwaikh Desalination Plant Jahra Doha Doha East Desalination Plant Doha West Desalination Plant Subiya Subiya Desalination Plant Malta Southern Region SiġġiewiGħar Lapsi Reverse Osmosis Plant 1982 Eastern Region Pembroke Pembroke Reverse Osmosis Plant2016 Maldives Kaafu Atoll MaléMalé Water & Sewerage Company 2003 Mexico Baja California 1960 Morocco Souss-Massa Chtouka Aït Baha Chtouka Aitbaha Desalination Plant2022 Oman Al Batinah South Ar Rumays Barka 4 Desalination Plant2018 Philippines Cebu Cordova Cordova Desalination Plant 2024 Qatar Al Wakrah Doha Ras Abu Fontas1981 Saudi Arabia Eastern Province Jubail Saline Water Conversion Corporation2000 Khobar Saline Water Conversion Corporation2000 Mecca Province Jeddah Saline Water Conversion Corporation1994 Shuaiba Desalination Plant Saline Water Conversion Corporation2001Medina ProvinceYanbu Saline Water Conversion Corporation1998 South Africa Western Cape Mossel Bay Mossel Bay Desalination Plant 2018Abu DhabiAl ShuweihatAl Shuweihat S12001Al ShuweihatAl Shuweihat S22009Al TaweelahTaweelah A11999Al TaweelahTaweelah A22000Al TaweelahTaweelah B2005Al TaweelahAl Taweelah RO2022MirfaMirfa International Power and Water Company plant2014Umm Al NarUmm Al Nar plant2003DubaiDEWA inaugurates $415m M-Station Extension project in Jebel AliJebel AliJebel Ali Power Plant and Water Desalination2019FujairahFujairahFujairah F12006FujairahFujairah F22007
Algeria Algeria ranks 2nd in the Mediterranean with a desalinated water production capacity of (631 million m3/year), followed by Spain (405 million m3/year) and Egypt (200 million m3/year). is believed to have at least 20 desalination plants in operation.
Arzew IWPP Power & Desalination Plant, Arzew, 90,000m3/day Cap Djinet Seawater Reverse Osmosis 100,000 m3/day Tlemcen Souk Tleta 200,000 m3/day Tlemcen Hounaine 200,000 m3/day Beni Saf 200,000 m3/day Tenes 200,000 m3/day Fouka 120,000 m3/day Tipaza 100,000 m3/day Skikda 100,000 m3/day Hamma Seawater Desalination Plant 200,000 m3/day built by General Electric Mostaganem, (Sonaghter) 200,000 m3/day Magtaa Reverse Osmosis (RO) Desalination Plant 500,000 m3/day, Oran
Aruba The island of Aruba has a large (world's largest at the time of its inauguration) desalination plant, with a total installed capacity of per day.W.E.B. Aruba N.V. – Water Plant. Webaruba.com. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
Australia
The Millennium Drought (1997–2009) led to a water supply crisis across much of the country. A combination of increased water usage and lower rainfall/drought in Australia caused state governments to turn to desalination. As a result, several large-scale desalination plants were constructed (see list).
Large-scale seawater reverse osmosis plants (SWRO) now contribute to the domestic water supplies of several major Australian cities including Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and the Gold Coast. While desalination helped secure water supplies, it is energy intensive (≈$140/ML). In 2010, a Seawater Greenhouse went into operation in Port Augusta.Sundrop Farms Pty Ltd . Sundropfarms.com.au. Retrieved May 14, 2012.Seawater Greenhouse Australia construction time lapse (2010). YouTube. Retrieved May 14, 2012.Seawater Greenhouse Australia on Southern Cross News (2010). YouTube. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
A growing number of smaller scale SWRO plants are used by the oil and gas industry (both on and offshore), by mining companies to supply slurry pipelines for the transport of ore and on offshore islands to supply tourists and residents.
Bahrain Completed in 2000, the Al Hidd Desalination Plant on Muharraq island employed a multistage flash process, and produces per day.. sidem-desalination.com The Al Hidd distillate forwarding station provides 410 million liters of distillate water storage in a series of 45-million-liter steel tanks. A 135-million-liters/day forwarding pumping station sends flows to the Hidd, Muharraq, Hoora, Sanabis, and Seef blending stations, and which has an option for gravity supply for low flows to blending pumps and pumps which forward to Janusan, Budiya and Saar.Al Hidd Desalination Plant. Water Technology. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
Upon completion of the third construction phase, the Durrat Al Bahrain seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant was planned to have a capacity of 36,000 cubic meters of potable water per day to serve the irrigation needs of the Durrat Al Bahrain development.Durrat Al Bahrain desalination plant. Water Technology. Retrieved May 29, 2011. The Bahrain-based utility company, Energy Central Co contracted to design, build and operate the plant.Construction starts on Durrat Al Bahrain desalination plant . Desalination.biz. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
Barbados In 1994–1995 the island of Barbados experienced a severe 1 in 50 year severe drought that knocked much of the island's drinking water supply offline including the country's sole major hospital in the capital-city Bridgetown. An agreement was negotiated with General Electric's Ionics Inc. to build a reverse osmosis desalination plant on the south western coast of the island capable of supplying 20% of the islands population. The plant began operating within 15 months and was officially commissioned February 2000. Currently many cruise ships purchase water from Barbados due to its good quality.
Cayman Islands West Bay, West Bay, Grand Cayman Abel Castillo Water Works, Governor's Harbour, Grand Cayman Britannia, Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman
Chile
Desalination plants fully supply the Chilean cities of Antofagasta, Caldera and Mejillones. Mining in Chile consumes most desalinated water and this demand is driven by both the a need for more water to process copper ores with decreasing grades and restrictions on the use of freshwater. As of 2023, 9% of the water demand in Chilean mines was supplied by sea water of which 69% was desalinated. Twenty of Chile's 24 desalination plants (as of 2025) provide water for the mining industry. Copiapó Desalination Plant Thorium Power Canada, with its affiliate, DBI Chile, have proposed plans to build a 10 MW demonstration thorium reactor in Chile to power the 20 million litre/day desalination plant. All land and regulatory approvals are currently in process.
China China operates the Beijing Desalination Plant in Tianjin, a combination desalination and coal-fired power plant designed to alleviate Tianjin's critical water shortage. Though the facility has the capacity to produce of potable water per day, it has never operated at more than one-quarter capacity due to difficulties with local companies and inadequate local infrastructure.
The Hong Kong Water Supplies Department had pilot desalination plants in Tuen Mun and Ap Lei Chau using reverse-osmosis technology. The production cost was put at HK$7.8 to HK$8.4 /m3.LCQ5 : Study on desalination. info.gov.hk (January 10, 2007)Pilot Plant Study on Development of Desalination Facilities in Hong Kong . Water Supplies Department, Government of Hong Kong, October 2007, Government of Hong Kong Hong Kong used to have a desalination plant in Lok On Pai, Siu Lam.Advisory Committee on the Quality of Water Supplies Minutes of Meeting No. 8 . April 1, 2003. Government of Hong Kong
In 2014, the government confirmed the reservation of a 10-hectare site at Tseung Kwan O for the construction of a reverse-osmosis desalination plant with an initial output capacity of 50 million cubic metres per annum. Plans include provisions for future expansion to an ultimate capacity of 90 million cubic metres per annum, which will meet about 10 per cent of Hong Kong's fresh water demand. Detailed feasibility studies, preliminary design and a cost-effectiveness analysis are planned to be completed by 2014. A commissioning date of 2020 is envisaged.
Cyprus A plant operates in Cyprus near the town of Larnaca.Larnaca SWRO Water Desalination Plant. Water Technology. Retrieved March 20, 2011. The Dhekelia Desalination Plant uses the reverse osmosis system.
Egypt Dahab Desalination Plants Dahab 3,600 m3/day completed 1999. The facility in the South Sinai is being expanded to produce 15,000 m3/day Hurgada and Sharm El-Sheikh Power and Desalination Plants Oyoun Moussa Power and Desalination Zaafarana Power and Desalination Remelah Desalination Plant