Oceanography (Essay Sample)

Oceanography
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29th August 2015.
The composition of sea water is mainly a mixture of various kinds of slats and water itself. These salts include chlorine, magnesium, sodium, calcium, sulphur and potassium. The concentration of these salts in sea water varies depending on the region and portion of the sea taken, as a result of the changes in the volumes of water in different parts of the sea .However, the variations in salt concentrations is usually slight, that it generally assumes a constant. Chemically, chlorine makes up the largest percentage of salt in water, with 55%.Sea water, which is also salty water, constitutes the largest portion of the planet. There are various ways in which salty water can be made to be fresh, drinkable water. These include; reverse osmosis, distillation, electro dialysis, as well as vacuum freezing (Cooley, 2010).
Reverse osmosis is a method that basically employs the basic principle of osmosis to desalinize water. In this process, there must be a semi permeable membrane. The salty water is put under immense pressure, which is aimed at ensuring that the clean, fresh water passes through the membrane, while the salt particles remain on the other side of the membrane. Basically, the reverse osmosis process of obtaining drinkable water from sea water is a reverse of the normal process of osmosis.
The other method is called electro dialysis. As its name suggests, the method combines the use of electricity and electric conductors, or electrodes, to desalinize the water. The method consists of a tube, preferably made of plastic, which is filled with the water to be cleaned, the sea water. This plastic tube is made in such a way that it has got a small channel that has two diversions, the junction of which contains an electrode. When a current is passed through, say, 2 volts, there is a creation of an electric field; one negatively charged, and the other positive. The salts ions get attracted to the electrode, thereby leaving the water clean, and fresh (Brix, 2012).
Reverse osmosis is practiced in various countries such as Australia, which employs the procedure in getting clean water from the ocean. The region around Perth is mostly dry and arid, while ironically, bordering the ocean, abundantly blessed with water. The region therefore uses reverse osmosis to harness clean, drinkable water from the salty ocean water. They use this water for other uses as well, such as watering some crops (UT Austin, 2015) .Electro dialysis is also being practiced in a number of countries. Considering it is a new practice, most pilot programs have already been carried out in countries like Singapore and Netherlands, and the results proved it to be very effective.
Desalinization of sea water has got its own benefits as well as disadvantages. Among the benefits, is that it ensures water availability at any...