Complete 5 pages APA formatted article: Techniques Used to Provide Fresh Water the Worlds Arid Areas.

Complete 5 pages APA formatted article: Techniques Used to Provide Fresh Water the Worlds Arid Areas. The distribution of freshwater is not even in various parts of the world with parts such as Europe and the Americas relatively having more access to freshwater as compared to most parts of Africa and Asia. This has primarily been attributed to factors such as aridity and poor climatic conditions which have led to increased unavailability of this freshwater (Pulsipher & Pulsipher 2011).

The aim of this report is to outline the feasible ways through which freshwater is made available in arid areas where the resource is quite scarce. The paper will have a look at five ways that are been commonly used in these regions in order to provide this much-needed resource to the flora and fauna existing in these areas.

In simple terms, desalination refers to the process of turning seawater into usable fresh and drinking water. Desalination is considered by many to be one of the oldest methods of purifying water used today and it involves removing salts from the seawater in treating the water. Desalination has been hailed as one of the most efficient methods of treating water and subsequently providing fresh water on a large scale as seen in the arid areas such as the Northern part of Africa where its use is widespread. According to the International Desalination Association (2013), there were over 17,000 desalination plants spread across 150 countries in the world in 2013. These plants added over 21.1 billion US gallons into the freshwater capacity in the same year. The same body states that over 300 million people relied on the desalinated water in 2013 in numerous parts of the globe (especially the arid areas). Despite these figures, the desalination process is still underutilized according to various scholars with most asserting that there is more potential in this technique towards providing more production of freshwater especially in the arid areas of the world.&nbsp.There is a common call among various circles for the installation of more desalination plants especially in a majority of arid areas that have easier access to ocean waters and the seas which are a prime source of the source water.