Public Attitudes toward Environmental Impacts from Seawater Desalination: Insights from Southeast Iran

Freshwater scarcity is a growing issue in water-scarce countries, and the rising population increasingly depends on unconventional water sources, like desalinated seawater. The environmental impact of desalination is crucial, and it is equally important for stakeholders to comprehend these effects as the success of projects relies on the participation and support of local communities. However, there are varied and at times conflicting opinions regarding the environmental impact of desalination plants among the general public. This study examines public attitudes of the environmental effects of desalination plant operations through the use of questionnaires conducted along a section of the coast of Chabahar in the southeast of Iran. According to the results, there is a positive significant relationship between knowledge and factual knowledge of citizens about the environmental impact of desalination plants (p 0.05). It was found that males reported higher knowledge and factual knowledge than females (p 0.05) which can be due to their higher education and their greater role in the family economy. As long as, those with higher marine-dependent livelihood showed a higher knowledge and factual knowledge in using desalinators (p 0.05). In addition, Internet and TV were the main information sources that used. In general, these results can help decision-makers in public participation programs and the trade-off between freshwater need environmental sustainability. Through determining the key role of environmental education, we suggested that education to local people should be placed at the urgent priority of development of technology for desalination of sea water.