Desalination in the United Kingdom

Desalination in the United Kingdom
The first desalination plant in the United Kingdom is to be built in Beckton, East London and is expected to be completed by 2009. The facility is expected to cost £200m and will draw its water supply the the Thames estuary. According to Thames Water Utilities Ltd., the UK’s largest water and wastewater services company, the plant could supply "140 million litres of water a day, enough to supply 400,000 homes in north-east London."

Criticism Against the Plant
London Mayor Ken Livingstone criticised the plant, calling it "misguided and a retrograde step in UK environmental policy." Mayor Livingstone bases his belief on the principle of "encouraging people to use less water, not more."