Statement by the President Welcoming the Delegates to the First International Symposium on Water Desalination.

I WELCOME YOU to this International Symposium. You represent more than 60 nations. You have come here from all parts of the world. And you have come to search--together--for a common solution to a common problem.

Even while you deliberate, men are without water. Land lies untilled which should produce food for the hungry. People around the world are impatient for the results of your efforts. And I am the most impatient of all.

Techniques to desalt water have been used in many places for many years--on ships at sea, among the islands of the Caribbean, in desert lands along the Persian Gulf. But if our vision for the future is to be realized--the vision of an inexhaustible supply of pure, drinkable water--then the cost of desalting must be drastically reduced.

With this objective, the United States began a program of research and development over a decade ago. It has already yielded heartening results. We have built five plants capable of testing new technologies. Their daily capacities range from a few hundred thousand gallons to more than 2 million gallons. We have built and operated a score of pilot plants. We have witnessed the cost of desalted water cut in half and then halved again. To accelerate this work, we have recently launched a new 5-year, $200 million program of research and development.

We have concrete goals in view: by 1968, to construct plants with the capacity of 10 million gallons a day; by 1970, to extend the range to 100-million-gallon plants. We are also at work on smaller plants varying in size from less than 1 million gallons to 15 million gallons per day, employing many different processes.

From the creative work you perform in your laboratories and on your drawing boards, and from conferences like this one, we will gain new freedom from the harsh accidents of geography. Brackish wells will nurture crops--and the oceans, pure and clear, will flow from our faucets.

The need is worldwide, so must be the effort. Knowledge, like thirst, belongs to all men. No country can be the sole possessor. We in this country are ready to join with every nation--to share our efforts, to work in every way. We cannot wait-for the problem will not wait.