New 'Desal' Plants Make Growth Easier

"Desalination isn't cheap, and some plants are opposed by environmental groups, yet they are hailed by many as an ingenious way to solve the growing problem of dwindling freshwater supplies. Such plants are used to purify brackish groundwater in New Mexico and Arizona and increasingly to purify raw seawater in California and Florida....In 1999, the Congressional Research Service estimated that treating brackish water is about twice as costly as regular water treatment, and treating seawater is at least three times more expensive than brackish-water treatment...'People say, well, it's too expensive, but really what's the alternative?'...The alternative, say environmentalists, is to stop the relentless march of development along the Jersey Shore."