{"id":60080989,"date":"2025-05-14T16:48:04","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T15:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?p=60080989"},"modified":"2025-05-20T11:34:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T10:34:54","slug":"chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Chile turns to desalination plants amid water crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As water began to flow along a dry riverbed in central Chile last year<\/a>, residents reacted with amazement and joy. People cheered and embraced \u2013 it had been a long time coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petorca, a town in the central Valpara\u00edso region some 220 km from Santiago, has become an emblem<\/a> of water inequality in the country \u2013 severe drought over the past decade has dried up the Petorca River and left the town\u2019s population reliant on water trucks. This lack of access to water has harmed small farmers, who for generations had depended on fruit harvests, including avocados. But on 24 June, heavy rains brought relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The joy that came with the rains was, however, a fleeting parenthesis amid years of high water stress<\/a> caused by a mega-drought. Compromised water supplies plagued the region during the 2010s, aggravated by high levels<\/a> of water use by the agricultural sector. Chile\u2019s climate exhibits a high inter-annual variability of precipitation, with very wet years followed by very dry years. This pattern yields interspersed water surpluses. \u201cThe anomaly of the mega-drought is that we had many consecutive dry years,\u201d says Camila \u00c1lvarez-Garret\u00f3n, a hydrologist and researcher at the Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR2<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"aerial<\/div>
Citrus fruit cultivation in Petorca, in Chile\u2019s east-central Valpara\u00edso region. Drought in the town has become a symbol of water scarcity in the country, which over the past decade has dried up Petorca River and left the population reliant on water trucks (Image: Freedom Wanted \/ Alamy)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She said that the country experienced extreme droughts in 2019 and 2021 and that this is part of a wider precipitation deficit. \u201cThis is due to two overlapping phenomena: inter-annual variability combined with the effect of anthropogenic climate change. The latter has manifested very clearly in Chile in the form of precipitation deficit trends,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The academic points out that, although the entire planet is warming, changes in precipitation are varying by region. There are areas in which global warming causes more rainfall, but in central-southern Chile there is a consistent downward trend. This is projected to continue for the rest of the century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although water availability at the national level is comparatively high, the realities are very different between the country\u2019s regions. In the hyper-arid areas of the Atacama Desert in the north, there is virtually no rainfall, while in the southern Andes, more than three metres of rain can accumulate in a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chile is more than 4,000 kilometres long, with a varied geography and climate influenced by the Pacific Ocean and large-scale natural phenomena, such as the El Ni\u00f1o and La Ni\u00f1a oscillations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Ni\u00f1o and La Ni\u00f1a<\/span>
\n

El Ni\u00f1o is a climate pattern in which the surface water of the east-central tropical Pacific Ocean warms to significantly above average temperatures. This affects rainfall patterns and weather across the world, raising temperatures globally for its duration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Ni\u00f1o is part of a phenomenon called the El Ni\u00f1o\u2013Southern Oscillation (Enso). El Ni\u00f1o events do not occur on a regular schedule, but appear on average every two to seven years. The opposite, cooler phase is called La Ni\u00f1a.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During La Ni\u00f1a, cooler-than-average sea temperatures are present in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. Like El Ni\u00f1o, it affects patterns of rainfall and atmospheric pressure worldwide.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe La Ni\u00f1a phenomenon [which emerged in December<\/a>] is already in retreat \u2013 it was short-lived and not very intense,\u201d explains Roberto Rondanelli, a professor at the University of Chile\u2019s geophysics department. \u201cThe good thing is that it happened in the season when it doesn\u2019t rain in the central zone, so it doesn\u2019t matter so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen there is no El Ni\u00f1o and no La Ni\u00f1a, we are in a neutral situation. This does not mean that it will instantly rain more or less, but rather that anything can happen. What we see is that we are heading towards a neutral situation, or even a weak El Ni\u00f1o situation, which is favourable for precipitation in central Chile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rondanelli also tells Dialogue Earth about Chile\u2019s historic mega-droughts, including one in central Chile that lasted 12 years, between 1770 and 1782. These are not new phenomena, he says, but now they come with the added context of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A CR2 report<\/a> on water security published in 2023, co-authored by \u00c1lvarez-Garret\u00f3n, explains that trends over the past six decades indicate a significant increase in water-stress levels in central Chile. In this period, consumptive water uses have doubled, driven mainly by agricultural and forestry development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day Zero<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, the journalists Tania Tamayo and Alejandra Carmona published the book \u201dEl negocio del agua<\/a>\u201d (The Business of Water):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe picture is grim. As the desert advances and water becomes scarce, an avocado tree in Chile, on average, consumes more water than a person in Petorca. The mining companies have advanced to such an extent that some places in the highlands have lost their inhabitants. Forestry companies do not appear in the water footprint figures, despite the fact that they have been consuming rainwater for years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book alleges that, in Chile\u2019s case, there are \u201cselective droughts\u201d, in a territory where water is \u201ca market good\u201d. It notes that water availability is also unequal in agriculture: \u201cThere are sectors that have greater access to water resources, a situation that is directly related to the economic capacity of the farmer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CR2\u2019s water security report states that in central Chile, more groundwater is used than can be naturally replenished. This means aquifers (underground water deposits) are not able to recharge, which means the amount of available water gradually shrinks. Like taking water from a bucket without adding more, it will eventually be empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis deepens the socio-economic and environmental impacts,\u201d the report warns, and is leading the country towards an \u201cabsolute depletion\u201d of water resources \u2013 a concept known as Day Zero. \u201cThe timing of Day Zero is uncertain, but, considering that the timeframe is in the range of decades to a few centuries, it poses an intergenerational problem in Chile,\u201d it notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c1lvarez-Garret\u00f3n explains that Chile\u2019s water consumption rate sticks close to the limits of what is naturally available. But despite the country\u2019s inter-annual precipitation variations, she is concerned that very dry years are not synonymous with lower water consumption. \u00c1lvarez-Garret\u00f3n says there are no policies or protocols in place to limit consumption and generate water reserves when precipitation declines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The timing of when Day Zero will be reached is uncertain, but […] it poses an intergenerational problem in Chile<\/blockquote>Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR2)\u2019s water security report<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, Day Zero almost occurred<\/a> in Cape Town, South Africa. Authorities utilised the term while alerting the population that taps would run dry within weeks without an extreme drop in water consumption. Fortunately, the city managed to avoid catastrophe. But Uruguay did not: the Montevideo metropolitan area was left without access to potable water<\/a> in 2023 after a period of low rainfall. This led the city to draw saltwater from the R\u00edo de la Plata for part of its supply, with government ministers advising pregnant people and those with hypertension, kidney or heart problems to limit their consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solutions to the crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the context of the climate emergency, industry, scientists and academics have been thinking about solutions to a possible mega-drought, and other problems caused by a lack of access to water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desalination plants are one tactic for easing water scarcity. They convert seawater into freshwater for human consumption, industry and irrigation. Desalination plants extract large quantities of water from the ocean at high speed, which is processed to remove oils, algae and other marine elements. It is then filtered by reverse osmosis, a water-purification process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chile currently has 24<\/a> desalination plants, 17 of which supply the mining sector. Latin America\u2019s first<\/a> desalination plant for drinking water opened in the northern Antofagasta region in 2003. In Atacama, Chile\u2019s first state-owned<\/a> desalination plant \u2013 and the largest to be built in the country for public water supplies \u2013 broke ground in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/div>
Construction of the new Codelco desalination plant in Antofagasta. Although such projects could alleviate water shortages, experts fear the high levels of brine they produce may have a negative environmental impact on the coastline and ecosystems (Image: Sebasti\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez \/ Prensa Presidencia de Chile<\/a>)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In December, the contract bidding process to build a desalination plant in the northern region of Coquimbo began<\/a>; Chinese, European and domestic companies are all in the running. And in January, the Chilean government announced a further four<\/a> desalination plants for both residential and industrial purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mechanical engineer Pedro Sariego, an academic at the Federico Santa Mar\u00eda Technical University in Valpara\u00edso, has proposed a large-scale solution: a solar-powered<\/a> water desalination plant in Valpara\u00edso (approximately 350km south of Coquimbo), designed to replace or complement the water generated by the proposed Catemu reservoir<\/a>, which is intended to facilitate irrigation for nearly \u200b\u200b26,600 hectares of land. His idea was conceived as a more sustainable way to produce drinking water that would also reduce water transportation costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we have to do, in the end, is reach some kind of agreement on water and energy,\u201d says Sariego. \u201cThat\u2019s the key. I talk a lot about bringing or moving large volumes of water at low cost through alternative energy synergy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desalination drawbacks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The introduction of desalination plants is not without concern<\/a>. Experts fear they could have negative environmental impacts on the coastline and threaten ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2019 study<\/a> warned of the environmental risks associated with desalination plants, particularly the high levels of hypersaline concentrate (brine) they produce. Most of this is returned to the sea, causing an increase in water salinity that affects and alters ecosystems and marine life. The researchers found it can have an impact upon the availability of nutrients in the water. It may even have an impact on ocean temperatures, since increasing salinity also increases water density and thus the circulation of ocean currents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, climate change is an ever-growing complication. At the Desalination Latin America 2025 congress held<\/a> in Santiago in March, Daniel Rojas \u2013 an engineering expert from Brugg Group, an infrastructure firm \u2013 warned that rising sea levels and more frequent storm surges caused by climate change are damaging infrastructure. They are also flooding areas where plants could be built and altering geological dynamics. During the event, Rojas recommended<\/a> installing dams or marine sediment reservoirs, as well as rehabilitating wetlands, to cushion these effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>
Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

Climate change also threatens the sustainability of the desalination plants themselves, because warmer water contains higher levels<\/a> of salt, which will impact the plants\u2019 operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, there is a lack of regulations for the construction and operation of desalination plants. But Sariego argues that the technology is more than proven worldwide, with some 20,000 desalination plants<\/a> globally, and says he has no records of any ecological catastrophes. \u201cIt has to work rigorously well, following the standards. And in that respect, Chilean engineering \u2013 at least that linked to the mining industry \u2013 is quite rigorous, quite systematic, and all the standards are met.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chileans face severe water shortages, exacerbated by climate change. Seawater is one solution, but experts warn of environmental risks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50000567,"featured_media":60081001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[761,50039903],"tags":[50040316,20000060,607],"hashtags":[],"country":[50000024],"class_list":["post-60080989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-water","tag-drinking-water","tag-groundwater","tag-water-scarcity","country-chile"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChile turns to desalination plants amid water crisis | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chileans face severe water shortages, exacerbated by climate change. Seawater is one solution, but experts warn of environmental risks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chile turns to desalination plants amid water crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chileans face severe water shortages, exacerbated by climate change. Seawater is one solution, but experts warn of environmental risks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-14T15:48:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-20T10:34:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Gabriel-Boric-at-National-Copper-Corporation_Prensa-Presidencia-de-Chile-1-e1747233596617.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"802\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Yasna Mussa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Yasna Mussa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d0b047c7854a73f3232605b133bb4bb3\"},\"headline\":\"Chile turns to desalination plants amid water crisis\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-14T15:48:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-20T10:34:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/\"},\"wordCount\":1857,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Gabriel-Boric-at-National-Copper-Corporation_Prensa-Presidencia-de-Chile-1-e1747233596617.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Drinking water\",\"Groundwater\",\"Water scarcity\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Climate\",\"Water\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/\",\"name\":\"Chile turns to desalination plants amid water crisis | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Gabriel-Boric-at-National-Copper-Corporation_Prensa-Presidencia-de-Chile-1-e1747233596617.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-14T15:48:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-20T10:34:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"Chileans face severe water shortages, exacerbated by climate change. Seawater is one solution, but experts warn of environmental risks\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Gabriel-Boric-at-National-Copper-Corporation_Prensa-Presidencia-de-Chile-1-e1747233596617.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Gabriel-Boric-at-National-Copper-Corporation_Prensa-Presidencia-de-Chile-1-e1747233596617.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":802,\"caption\":\"Chilean President Gabriel Boric at lectern\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chile turns to desalination plants amid water crisis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d0b047c7854a73f3232605b133bb4bb3\",\"name\":\"Yasna Mussa\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/yasnamussa\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/yasnamussa\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chile turns to desalination plants amid water crisis | Dialogue Earth","description":"Chileans face severe water shortages, exacerbated by climate change. Seawater is one solution, but experts warn of environmental risks","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chile turns to desalination plants amid water crisis","og_description":"Chileans face severe water shortages, exacerbated by climate change. Seawater is one solution, but experts warn of environmental risks","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_published_time":"2025-05-14T15:48:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-20T10:34:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":802,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Gabriel-Boric-at-National-Copper-Corporation_Prensa-Presidencia-de-Chile-1-e1747233596617.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Yasna Mussa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/"},"author":{"name":"Yasna Mussa","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d0b047c7854a73f3232605b133bb4bb3"},"headline":"Chile turns to desalination plants amid water crisis","datePublished":"2025-05-14T15:48:04+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-20T10:34:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/"},"wordCount":1857,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Gabriel-Boric-at-National-Copper-Corporation_Prensa-Presidencia-de-Chile-1-e1747233596617.jpg","keywords":["Drinking water","Groundwater","Water scarcity"],"articleSection":["Climate","Water"],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/","name":"Chile turns to desalination plants amid water crisis | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Gabriel-Boric-at-National-Copper-Corporation_Prensa-Presidencia-de-Chile-1-e1747233596617.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-14T15:48:04+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-20T10:34:54+00:00","description":"Chileans face severe water shortages, exacerbated by climate change. Seawater is one solution, but experts warn of environmental risks","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Gabriel-Boric-at-National-Copper-Corporation_Prensa-Presidencia-de-Chile-1-e1747233596617.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Gabriel-Boric-at-National-Copper-Corporation_Prensa-Presidencia-de-Chile-1-e1747233596617.jpg","width":1200,"height":802,"caption":"Chilean President Gabriel Boric at lectern"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/chile-turns-to-desalination-plants-amid-water-crisis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chile turns to desalination plants amid water crisis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d0b047c7854a73f3232605b133bb4bb3","name":"Yasna Mussa","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/yasnamussa\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/yasnamussa\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60080989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50000567"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60080989"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60080989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60081051,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60080989\/revisions\/60081051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60081001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60080989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60080989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60080989"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=60080989"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=60080989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}