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A concept study for a natural gas hydrate propulsion ship with a fresh water supply function
Published in Pentti Kujala, Liangliang Lu, Marine Design XIII, 2018
The global desalination market is projected to grow to $23.5 billion in 2018 (www.koreaexim.go.kr). According to the International Desalination Association, in June 2015, worldwide, the number of operating desalination plants is 18,426, producing 86.8 million cubic meters of water per day for 300 million people (Henthorne 2012). Generally, there are two types of desalination processes. One is a thermal process, and the other is a membrane process. Multistage flash (MSF) represents the thermal process that has multistep distillation methods including heating water and condensing vapor by dropping pressure. Though the thermal process has been widely used for more than 60 years, the membrane process can serve as a cost effective fresh water supply (Cotruvo 2016).
Desalination
Published in Sarah Bell, Urban Water Sustainability, 2017
Desalination supplies less than 1% of the world’s water use, but it has been expanding rapidly in recent years and has come to dominate supplies in a few water-scarce cities. In 2013 60% of desalinated water was for municipal supply, 28% for industry, 6% for electricity production and the remainder for agriculture, tourism and other uses (Burn et al., 2015). In 2015 there were 18,426 desalination plants installed in 150 countries worldwide (International Desalination Association, 2017). Desalination supplies 100% of water in Qatar and Kuwait, 55% in Israel and 50% in the Australian city of Perth (Ghaffour, 2009; Jacobsen, 2016; Water Corporation, 2017). Desalination more commonly forms a relatively small proportion of total supply and may be installed as a drought resilience measure or emergency response.
Membrane Water Treatment and Technology Improvement
Published in Thomas M. Missimer, Ian C. Watson, Water Supply Development for Membrane Water Treatment Facilities, 1994
Thomas M. Missimer, Ian C. Watson
Development of membrane technology has created an economic alternative to treat saline water as opposed to the construction of expensive pipelines and reservoirs. A large number of reverse osmosis water treatment facilities have been constructed in various coastal settings in the United States, the Middle East, and in other parts of the world. Some examples of these facilities are given in Table 2.1, and a more complete inventory is maintained by the International Desalination Association (Wangnick Consulting Engineers, 1992). Most of the facilities listed treat either seawater or brackish water obtained from groundwater sources, and one facility utilizes a surface water intake. The largest constructed potable water supply system utilizing membrane treatment technology in the United States today is the city of Cape Coral, Florida (see Chapter 17 case study).
Acceptance of direct potable water reuse for domestic purposes: evidence from southern Spain
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2021
Samara López-Ruiz, Pablo J. Moya-Fernández, Miguel A. García-Rubio, Francisco González-Gómez
Figure 1 shows the results. Although in Spain the quality of conventional sources is not optimal – only 55% of surface water sources are classified as having good ecological status, and only 56% of groundwater bodies have good overall status (INE, 2018a) – and despite Spanish users’ awareness that chemical pollution is the greatest threat to the aquatic ecosystem (Eurobarometer, 2019), Current is the highest-scoring option for all purposes except watering plants. On average, the second-most favoured option is Rainwater. However, although Rainwater is the most commonly accepted option among the non-conventional sources, it is the least viable option in Spain, due to the scant and irregular rainfall in much of the territory. This underscores the need for sources that provide more water independently of climatological factors. In fact, Spain is one of the world leaders in desalinated water production (Asociación Española de Desalación y Reutilización (AEDYR), 2019a) and a European leader in water reuse. On average, 13% of treated grey water is reused, with this figure surpassing 90% in some cities (International Desalination Association, 2018). However, in the survey, Recycled always appears as the least acceptable option.
Some reflections on water for residential uses in developed countries
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2020
Francisco González-Gómez, Miguel Á. García-Rubio, Jorge Guardiola
First, large companies have legitimate interests in the sector. They have developed the required technology and know-how, and have already consolidated their position in the water treatment and purification industry. Desalination is an industry with high profitability for construction companies, and currently has a global production capacity of 97.4 million m3 of water per day (Global Water Intelligence and International Desalination Association, 2018). The desalination lobby has been very effective in its advocacy and promotion, including in Australia and Spain (Fuenfschilling & Truffer, 2016; Tal, 2011). Second, there may be political interests at work. Political actors act rationally when they deliberately pursue electoral advantages (Dowding, 2019). The politician may prefer to develop desalination plants involving a ‘ribbon cutting’ (Kingdom, Liemberger, & Marin, 2006) over other actions, such as restricting water for non-residential uses or engaging in efforts to reduce unregistered water use in supply networks (González-Gómez, García-Rubio, & Guardiola, 2011; Kingdom et al., 2006).
Global water infrastructure: state of the art review
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2019
The major issues with water supply and sanitation are about access, affordability and management of large and complex systems, but the advances in technology are impressive. For drinking water technology, these include membrane filters, better reverse-osmosis plants, and improved instrumentation (Najm & Trussell, 1999). In water distribution systems, there is promise in new smart systems including advanced metering infrastructure (Hughes, Moss, & Smith, 2016) and associated SCADA systems. Desalination to remove salts and dissolved contaminants from seawater, brackish water and wastewater is an important technology with the potential to augment depleted supplies in many regions. Per the International Desalination Association (2017), more than 18,000 plants now serve more than 300 million people in some 150 countries. Old technologies such as distillation are being replaced by membranes, which require less energy inputs. New membrane materials are being sought to improve performance (Malaeb & Ayoub, 2011). Desalination with renewable energy is becoming feasible thanks to advances in solar photovoltaics and wind energy, mainly for small plants that are not connected to grids. Challenges include maintenance, brine discharge and material longevity (Kumar, Culp, & Shen, 2016).