USGS Frequently Asked Questions
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Question:
Is saline water used for anything?
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Answer: Saline water has some uses. In 2000, the U.S. used about
62 billion gallons per day of saline water, which was about 15 percent of
all water used. But saline water can only be used for certain purposes. The main
use was for thermoelectric power-plant cooling. As for the other uses, about 8 percent
of water used for industrial purposes was saline, and about 43 percent of all water
used for mining purposes was saline. Also, saline water can be
desalinated for use
as drinking water by putting it through a process to remove the salt from the water.
The process costs so much that it isn't used very much right now.
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Source of this FAQ:
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/qausage.html
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey