Calculating the Quantity and Cost of Distilled Water Produced by Solar Plants to Desalinate Drain Water and use it in Irrigation

Abstract

Industrial and agricultural growth, population explosion, as well as climate change all over the world have led to a significant increase in demand for fresh water, so obtaining it in the simplest, cheapest and most appropriate way has become a challenge for many countries, including Iraq. The aim of the study is to invest free solar energy through the use of solar stills to desalinate water and use it in agricultural production through mixing and drip techniques. The results showed the possibility of obtaining arable water through the construction of a network of virtual solar stills, and through the process of mixing distilled water with an equal amount of drainage water and using drip irrigation, it was found that the cost of one liter of water used in agriculture is (1.077 IQD) (0.0007 $, i.e. 0.0007 $ Less than one cent) within 20 years (the lifespan of the project), where a group of agricultural crops can be grown according to the amount of water produced and according to the default design of the distillers and the amount of salt in produced water, such as chickpeas, cabbage and lentils.