Growth in Municipal Desalination Facilities, 1970-2010

In some parts of the country, freshwater has become more limited and brackish groundwater use has been increasing. This graph shows the number of municipal desalination facilities through 2010. The blue line shows the number of facilities that are processing brackish water (mostly groundwater) and the red line shows the number of facilities that process seawater. Growth in brackish groundwater facilities is likely due to the fact that brackish water is cheaper to process than seawater and not limited to coastal areas. In 2010, there were 649 active desalination plants in the United States with a capacity to treat 402 million gallons per day.