Anthony Bennett investigates what the future might have in store for desalination technology over the next ten to twenty years. He looks at the current issues impacting on development and how those issues might change, and then hypothesises on what the main developments will be in large and small scale seawater desalination systems, based on discussions with Leon Awerbuch, chairman of Technical Programs at the International Desalination Association (IDA) and Karl Millauer, senior vice-president at Aquatech International Corporation.