1.   Environmentalists claim the highly saline water discharged from desalination plants could harm Marine life.

2.   It excludes water that will not drain from small pore spaces, saline water, and water in deep confined aquifers.

3.   As the sea freezes, it leaves behind very dense, saline water that sinks to the ocean floor and is replaced by warm water from the tropics.

4.   Saline water weighs more.

5.   Sudanese troops and civilians have been running short of drinking water for the past three weeks and forced to drink saline Red Sea water, Alwan said.