<P> Australia is the driest inhabitable continent on Earth and its installed desalination capacity is around 1 % of the total world 's total . Until a few decades ago , Australia met its demands for water by drawing freshwater from dams and water catchments . As a result of the water supply crisis during the severe 1997 -- 2009 drought state governments began building desalination plants that purify seawater using reverse osmosis technology . </P>
what process is used to separate salt from sea water in australian desalination plants
reverse osmosis