Budny 10:00
R21
WATER DESALINATION:
TRYING TO FIND THE BEST APPROACH
Charlie Cross (cwc21@pitt.edu)
ENGINEERING AND ETHICS
THE WATER CRISIS
In a world that is constantly changing, it is the
responsibility of engineers to develop solutions to the
challenges that are faced. By applying mathematics and
science solutions can be developed. Although engineers
solve problems, it is possible for them to create new ones
which are why engineers have their own code of ethics.
While engineering has its own guidelines to solving
problems, engineering ethics is also, “usually focused on
engineer’s ethics, engineers acting as individuals.” [9] Each
individual has their own morals which also need to be
considered in order to come up with the most ethical answer.
One example of ethics being applied to engineering is
solving the global water crisis.
The water crisis that our planet faces is a serious issue
because water is one of the most valuable resources, and
hundreds of millions of people are suffering from a lack of
it. People need water for drinking as well as sanitation.
According to Water.org, a website geared towards solving
the water crisis, 780 million people do not have access to
drinking water. In addition, twice as many people do not
have access to a toilet. Due to the lack of water and proper
sanitation 3.4 million people die each year, and 99% of these
deaths occur in developing countries. [1] Since these
countries have such limited resources, it is nearly impossible
to sustain the use of water desalination plants in order to
produce clean water for these people. It does not make sense
for researchers to continue developing water desalination
plants if it does not help those that need water the most. In
order to supply water to countries that are unindustrialized,
new methods need to be implemented that require fewer
resources.
OUR MOST VITAL RESOURCE
Water is one of the most important resources in our
planet. Without it, life on earth would simply not exist.
However, the most basic needs of water extend to more uses
for humans. We need it every day for sanitary use as well as
for drinking. With millions of people around the globe with
a shortage of water, humans have been developing ways to
increase our water supply. One method being used is water
desalination, where desalination plants take saltwater and
perform a process known as reverse osmosis to purify the
water so it can be used by people. Although these
desalination plants initially used lots of resources and were
expensive, they have become more efficient over the past
decade by making them more resourceful. Even though
water desalination plants have helped curb the water crisis in
certain regions, there are places in the world still in dire need
of water. In addition, these countries lack the funding and
resources to build their own desalination plants. If more
research is invested into developing plants, it will not help
the countries that need it the most. In my own experience I
did a service project in a small foreign community that was
in desperate need of water, so I know firsthand how much
water means to certain people. The team I worked with was
able to supply these people with water without having to
spend millions of dollars on building desalination plants,
which I why I believe it is possible to do the same in other
countries as well.
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering 1
2013-10-29
THE GROWTH IN DESALINATION
Although water desalination has cost lots of resources, it
has improved over the last few years. At the same time
however, its increase in efficiency has made it a more
popular use of increasing our water supply. According to
Nicholas Gerbis of Howstuffworks.com, “Until recently,
purifying seawater cost roughly five to 10 times as much as
drawing freshwater from more traditional sources. RO filters
have come a long way, however, and desalination today
costs only half of what it did 10 to 15 years ago.
Consequently, transportation, energy and environmental
costs have now replaced technology as the primary
impediments to large-scale desalination.” [2]. While water
desalination has become more efficient, more resources are
being spent to allow desalination to spread to other
developed regions. With more water being produced by
desalination plants, less water needs to be saved. If citizens
were living in a region with water being supplied on a large
scale, they would be less motivated to be conservative with
the water being given to them. An example of this scenario
is in Texas, which has been using a water desalination plant
in El Paso in order to meet its water supply goal for 2060.
Their concern is that people will become less likely to
conserve water when more is being produced. According to
Laura Huffman, Texas director of The Nature Conservancy,
“Conservation accounts for nearly a quarter of the total
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water supply in the 50-year plan, so thinking of desalination
plants as the only solution ‘undermines years of work by
folks that have evaluated local approaches’ to conservation.”
[3]. The simplest way people can have more water is to use
less water. Figures show that water production from
desalination in Spain had doubled between 2000 and 2006
from 7 million cubic meters each day to 1.4 million cubic
meters. The Spanish government predicts that this number
will double again in the next five years. [4] Across the globe
more countries are increasing their use of water desalination,
and it is only increasing exponentially. With so much water
being produced, people will soon forget that water is being
desalinated because the supply is lacking. If more money in
spent in improving plants, then nothing will change in the
long run because to most people having more water will just
mean less water needs to be saved.
If solving the global water crisis is focused on water
desalination, it will only help so much of the world. Most
countries that are in dire need of water lack the resources
that can sustain desalination plants. Even if it gets improved
in the future, it is very unlikely that desalination will be
economical enough to be used worldwide. In order to truly
solve the global water crisis, new methods need to be
developed that use less resources and cause less damage to
the environment. Although the development of water
desalination plants should be reduced, scenarios may arise
where desalination may be the only answer.
crisis. The more money that is spent continuing to develop
desalination plants is less money that can be used to develop
more resourceful means of producing freshwater. At the
same time, water desalination plants in Florida would be a
much more lucrative opportunity that would have much
more noticeable impact as oppose to helping smaller
communities. With these two different options they each
have their pros and cons which make it difficult to come to
an ethical conclusion.
FOLLOWING THE GUIDELINES OF
ENGINEERS
By following the Code of Ethics for Engineers of the
National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) we can come
closer to finding the best solution for this challenging
scenario. Canon 1 of the NSPE states, “Engineers shall hold
paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.” [7]
The situation in Florida would be a large scale public issue,
and increasing the water supply through desalination would
serve best to the public. Even though water desalination is
expensive, uses lots of resources, and is harmful to the
environment it will ultimately serve the public well. Using
small scale projects that our company strives for would not
work as well because it would not meet the public needs of
the entire state. By using water desalination there will be
enough water to meet the supply standards. Although the
NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers states that it would be
best to use water desalination in this scenario, it is still
questionable whether or not the workers of our business are
qualified to develop water desalination plants. According to
Canon 2 Section b of the ASCE, “Engineers shall undertake
to perform engineering assignments only when qualified by
education or experience in the technical field of engineering
involved.” [6] Even though our business is not specialized in
water desalination, we would still be able to work with the
other company since the project is still related to civil and
environmental engineering. Therefore it would still be
ethical for us to work with the other company even though
water desalination is not our company’s specialization.
ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF USING
ALTERNATIVES
If I worked for a business that worked on developing
new ways to make water more accessible around the world
through several small projects such as building aqueducts,
certain scenarios may occur that would be ethically
questionable whether or not we would carry through with
our company’s goals. For example, the state of Florida may
be suddenly faced with a drought. Although that the state
would have enough water currently to last them for a certain
amount of time, there is no certainty of how long the drought
would last. There are obvious reasons why Florida just as
any other region in the world would need water such as
sanitation and drinking, however the state relies on water for
its agricultural needs. Florida’s crops such as oranges are
exported across the United States, and impact of a lack of
water would spread to the rest of the country. In this case
engineers would have to quickly come up with a solution
that would increase the water supply so the state will have
enough freshwater to satisfy all of its needs.
Another company thought of using water desalination as
a method to increase Florida’s water supply. This business
would hire us for a large sum of money in order to help them
set up plants along the coastline to create enough freshwater
in the long term. The problem is that this project would go
against what our company stand for, which is using methods
alternative to water desalination in order to fix the water
ETHICS BEYOND ENGINEERING
Although engineering has its own code of ethics,
individuals still have their own personal morals which could
have an influence on their decisions. Even though water
desalination seems ethical because it serves the public well,
the processes that the plants undergo need to also be taken
into consideration. In 2007 the Wonthaggi Desalination
Plant was announced, but there was much controversy over
the project. Vice President of Watershed Victoria Stephen
Cannon is one of these people against desalination, stating
that, “It’s like selling a car. They’ll tell you it’s painted
bright blue but you don’t know anything about the engine.”
[10] The main selling point of using water desalination is
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how it will supply us with water, but the methods of
producing this freshwater is overlooked and people do not
realize that it is harmful to the environment. Water
desalination undergoes reverse osmosis which results in
entrainment. When seawater is being pumped into
desalination plants, microscopic sea creatures are going
along with it. Since this type of sea life is at the bottom of
the food chain it will have an impact on all other sea
creatures. In addition, water desalination releases brine, a
harmful chemical, into the ocean which settles at the sea
bed. [10] Another method of water desalination is flash
evaporation which runs salt water into a partial vacuum
which lowers the boiling point. Several stages are set up
with heat exchangers and various pressures between stages.
This process is very energy-intensive and can be a very
expensive method to produce freshwater. [11] None of these
issues are addressed in the Code of Ethics of Engineers, but
that does not mean they shouldn’t be considered in order to
come to a conclusion to whether or not water desalination
should be used if there was a drought in Florida.
It can be difficult to come up with an answer to
engineering problems, especially when there is a large
population being impacted as well as the environment.
While it is important to consider the guidelines set out by the
engineering codes of ethics, each individual engineer has
their own values which need to also be accounted for. I
believe that the decision for our company to not help the
water desalination project in Florida is well justified since
our company’s duty is to supply the world with water
through projects that are more economical. I believe that
companies should always protect the integrity of what they
stand for above all else. By using this method first and
considering the engineering codes of ethics second,
engineers can make the best ethical decision when trying to
solve the many problems that our world faces today.
REFERNCES
[1] “Billions Daily Affected By Water Crisis”. (2013).
Water.org (Website)
http://water.org/water-crisis/one-billion-affected/
[2] N Gerbis. “Why Can’t We Convert Salt Water Into
Drinking Water?” (2011). Howstuffworks.com (Website)
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/con
vert-salt-water.htm
[3] JC Llorca “Amid drought, water desalination gets
attractive” (2012). AP Financial News (Online article)
[4] A Tal. (2011) “The Desalination Debate-Lessons
Learned Thus Far” (Print article) Environment. Vol. 53
Issue 5, p34-48.
[5] “Provide access to clean water”. (2013) NAE Grand
Challenges for Engineering. (Website)
[6] American Society of Civil Engineers Code of Ethics
http://www.asce.org/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/
[7] NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers (2007)
http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html
[8] CJ Abate “Should Engineering Ethics Be Taught?”
(2010). Science & Engineering Ethics (Online article)
[9] JM Basart and M Serra “Engineering Ethics Beyond
Engineer’s Ethics” (2011) (Original paper)
[10] “Is desalination ethical?” (2010) Local India (Website)
http://www.localindia.com.au/content/desalination-ethical
[11] “Fresh Water From Salt” The Environment of
Desalination” (2011) Engineering Ethics Blog (Website)
http://engineeringethicsblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/freshwater-from-salt-environment-of.html
COMING TO AN ETHICAL CONCLUSION
Coming to a final conclusion for this scenario would
require following the ethics of engineering but also the
ethics of the engineers themselves. The ethics of engineering
state that our job would be to do what serves the public well
as long as it is within our engineering field. In the given
scenario using water desalination during a drought would
help Florida by supplying the state with freshwater that can
be used with many purposes. On the other hand, the ethics
our company has is against water desalination altogether
because of how it damages the environment and the high
amount of resources it needs. Although the ethics our
company has is not stated in the codes of ethics of the NSPE
and ASCE, they still need to be considered since they are
related to engineering. According to an article, one category
of engineering ethics is common morality, which is, “a body
of ethical ideas shared by most members of a group or
culture;” [8] Our company shares the ethical idea that water
desalination should not be used due to the environmental and
economic problems it will cause. Since our ethics as
engineers are shared, we have the right to protect our ideals
since it is what defines us as engineers. With that being
stated, the way I would respond to the given scenario would
be to not work with the other company to set up desalination
plants in Florida. The reason why our company exists would
be to use other means to supply freshwater such as
aqueducts. This does not mean that water desalination
shouldn’t be used in Florida; it just means that our company
should instead be investing our time instead with developing
more efficient methods on a smaller scale. Water
desalination would most likely be the best solution in this
scenario, but our company should not be involved with the
project.
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