Who would have thought that long-forgotten, mothballed ships could still be of use? Well, David Kreamer has. A geoscientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Kreamer would like to have old ships transformed into desalination facilities that will turn seawater into drinking water.

The supply of these old military ships and private ships is enough to do the task, according to him. Kreamer finds no problem in getting them to actually become mobile desalination plants as he believes that hundreds of these ships are very well capable of performing their new purpose.

According to Kreamer, these ships could serve coastal communities, where water is badly needed. An estimated half of the world’s residents live within about 100 miles of a coast. The ships could cruise away to avoid a hurricane, if need be, returning afterward to supply a city lacking water and power.

At a meeting of the Geological Society of America in Houston, Texas, Kreamer said that mobile desalination facilities will alleviate many of the environmental problems that hinder their development on land, and pointing out that these renewable energy solutions could power the oceangoing desalination plants.

Both solar and wind are possible energy sources that could utilize the into the power of the sea itself: turbines that turn using wave or tidal power, or techniques that extract power from differences in the density or temperature of seawater at different depths.

Kreamer will be making these plans a reality after he and the Water Standard, a Houston-based company have purchased a ship that will modified to serve as a desalination plant that is targeted to be up and running by late 2009.

Although mobile desalination offers the environmental benefits, Kreamer and the Water Stardard noted that the price of water made this way will be competitive with that made by land-based desalination.

Their vessel, a former vegetable oil tanker that will be rechristened the H2Ocean Cristina, is expected to produce more than 13 million gallons of water a day. So far, the plan is going smoothly, however, the consumers of the water generated by this “new mission” have yet to be determined.