You need water to live but more than 8 million people are not drinking clean water in the U.S.see this website for details http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/business/global/08iht-rbogguy1.html?_r=1&scp=8&sq=december%207%20article%20on%20water%20plant&st=cse

There are a lot of goods put at the same time there are some bad things about desalination.

The goods are it makes a dent on the the less than one percent of the water on earth is drinkable and it contributes to the water shortages. One of the bad things about water desalination

is that it costs 1.50 per 1000 gallons which is good but when your delivering clean water

to 4 million people the dollars add up fast so those are the goods and bads of water desalination.

http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/?gclid=CML22sXQoZ4CFQnxDAodAWTQlw this is a website that shows you facts about clean water and how dirty water can effect you health.

This website www.greenofficeprojects.org/.../desalination.jpg shows the difference desalination makes from dirty salt water to clean water.

Desalination is a smart idea but has some down sides it costs 51 cents per cubic meter which is a lot but when you have a city of 1 million+ its going to add up fast. Another down side is two thirds of the water that's pumped out of the ocean can't be used that leaves one third left to use
which will be a lot more time consuming than using all of the saltwater.It also leaves a humongous environmental footprint but their using waves to harness energy to make the process greener in Galveston,Texas.

There are more than 13000 desalination plants in the world. desalination plants are most popular in Saudi Arabia and the middle east since a lot of water shortages from the hot climate.
There are monstrous plant being built in california.And is being more known by the minute.

diseases

There are over 15 diseases that you can get from not being sanitary! All these diseases could be protected by having clean water to wash our hands with and clean drinking water. So at least 200 million peoples lives could be saved by clean water.