The history of desalination in the Canary Islands

Abstract

This paper is a review of the history of desalination in the Canary Islands. There are many problems relating to the water supply in the Canary Islands, such as the scarcity of natural resources of drinking water, energy issues, dependency, and overexploitation. Some of these problems are common to many other areas in Europe. Technologies and innovatory systems have been applied over time to improve the situation in the Canary Islands, such as importing water by tanker ships, first and building the first desalination plant in Spain in the year 1964 (the 24th plant in the whole world). The evolution of desalination technologies in the Canary Islands has been dependent on many factors such as volumes, type of plants, recovery rates, the companies involved, among many others, but the authorities, universities and general population have contributed to the success stories through education, research, doctoral theses, papers, and many different innovative projects. Nowadays, the Canary Islands continues to face the challenge of scarce natural resources and is working on new and more sustainable desalination technologies. Special focus has been placed on the use of renewable energies to reduce CO2 emissions.