eli5: If we have methods like desalination, why is the world suffering from a water shortage, when 70% of the Earth is water?

Question

Even though the water is saline, to the best of my understanding, you can convert saltwater into freshwater so why is there a water crisis?

In: Biology

Answer 1

[Tampa](https://www.tampabaywater.org/tampa-bay-seawater-desalination) uses a desalination plant to supplement the water that’s supplied to the area. I don’t have a link as a source, but I was living in Florida at the time and recall that one of the news outlets mentioned that one reason they set it up this way was the desalination process in use didn’t remove 100% of the salt. Mixing it with other freshwater negated the need to spend more energy extracting additional salt.