HOW and WHY do we manage DESALINATION? A 2018 United Nations study says there are now almost 16,000 desalination plants operating in 177 countries, producing a volume of freshwater equivalent to almost half the average its high cost restricts commercialization. After this happens, there is no longer any salt present in the water, but there are still other minerals and chemicals that need to be removed before drinking or using it for other purposes (such as irrigation). (Arroyo, et al., 2012). Renewable water supplies in most of these countries already fall well below the United Nations definition of absolute water scarcity, which is about 350 gallons per person per day, and a 2017 report from the World Bank suggests that climate change will be the biggest factor increasing the pressure on water supplies in the future. 4. Have the chemicals needed for remineralization of the water extracted from the water itself, Mr. Voutchkov said. Desalination plants can be powered by fossil fuels or renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar power. In addition, the location of a desalination plant can affect its construction costs; if youre building a plant in California or Texas where land is cheap, your project could end up costing less than if you were trying to build in Florida or Hawaii where land prices are much higher. WebLarge scale desalination so we can grow cash crops in the desert is not "lazy capitalism", it would be a fucking environmental disaster. The total dissolved solids (TDS) level of the source water directly impacts the operational costs, as higher operating pressures (RO) and temperatures (thermal) must typically increase as raw water salinity increases. For an RO system, the required product water quality will dictate the number of membrane passes required, thereby impacting costs. The installed cost of desalination plants is approximately $1m for every 1,000 cubic meters per day of installed capacity. Solar Drip Irrigation Circuit for Indoor Gardens. The resulting high pressure brine produced in the membrane is returned to the pressure center where its mechanical energy is recovered, contributing to raising the pressure of the incoming pre-treated seawater. KSB believes this is where there lies a huge opportunity here for containerized filtration. Therefore, a large scale desalination ", Figure 1. However, if you would like to change your cookie settings you can do so at any time. Desalinated water is also more expensive than other sources of fresh water, so its not always an option for those who cant afford it. There is a demonstration project underway in the U.S. where they anticipate dropping energy to 1.7 kWh. The top 15 desalination markets for a nine-year period from 2007 2016 is shown in Figure 3. From a construction point of view, careful considerations are recommended for items such as local soil conditions (may require new soil fill or structural concrete piles) and close proximity to a reliable power source to reduce the power transmission costs. WebThese portable, containerized desalination systems are a cost- efficient water treatment option featuring state-of-the-art membrane technology to provide treated water of the highest quality. For example, reverse osmosis plants are less expensive to build than those using distillation or multi-stage flash processes. This is definitely an exciting project, and I am proud of the progress we have made so far, but there is still a lot of work to do, he says. Designed for simplicity and durability Containerized package system is easy to transport, install, operate and maintain A new desalination plant will cost you a lot of money, and its important to consider all the factors that affect the true cost of your project. Ten years ago, desalinated water cost more than $9 per 1000 gallons, The primary reason is cost. WebAdvancements in reverse osmosis technology have brought desalination costs closer to other alternatives. Table 1 for three SWRO plants located in various locations of the globe, such as the US, the Middle East, and Australia. And gallon for gallon, thermal plants are currently much more expensive to operate than membrane plants. ; how efficient your desalination process is (you want it as close to 100% as possible); and so on. This way, when you are ready to begin construction on your new plant, there will be no surprises. The installed cost of desalination plants is approximately $1m for every 1,000 cubic meters per day of installed capacity. The small pilot plant, which uses solar energy to heat the water for desalination. This interannual variability is due to the differences in the dilution ratio. For instance: most plants use reverse osmosis which requires them to either build their own desalination facility or rent space from another company that already has one set up nearby; these options add both times (which means more money) onto their project but also allow them access methods like RO membranes which take less energy than distillation would require so overall performance is higher without having any negative effects upon how much electricity needs to be consumed during operation hours (ie: not much). Currently, desalination is largely limited to more affluent countries, especially those with ample fossil fuels and access to seawater (although brackish water inland can be desalinated, too). 1. Yet it has taken from the 1970s to now to reach a maximum daily capacity of around a million cubic meters per day, or about 250 million gallons, at the largest plants. The most widespread current practice is to pump the brine back into the sea. Electric water pressure pumps and reverse-osmosis membrane tubes at the Sawaco Desalination Plant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/climate/desalination-water-climate-change.html. Optimal project siting will also reduce the concentrated brine discharge line back to the sea. The average price tag on such facilities is between $5 million and $10 million dollars per acre-foot; however, even these costs can vary depending on where exactly theyre built as well as what type of equipment they utilize. Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVC) is primarily used to desalinate high TDS (> 45,000 mg/l) and/or industrial wastewater for the purpose of reuse and not necessarily potable uses. (745 MM plant + 198 MM tunnels). The first step is to decide whether or not you want to build a reverse osmosis (RO) plant or a saltwater distillation (SWD) plant. The largest production capacity by location is in the Middle East, due to their lack of freshwater sources and abundant energy resources, as can be observed from Figures 2 and 3. A road through an undeveloped section of Kaust, which has a security wall on its perimeter. It automatically generates drinking water that exceeds World Health Organization quality standards. We are trying to develop new processes, to consume less energy and be more environmentally friendly, said Noreddine Ghaffour, a researcher in the Water Desalination and Reuse Center at the university, which is universally known as Kaust. Advancements in reverse osmosis technology have brought desalination costs closer to other alternatives. We are at the point where we have to look into out-of-the-box solutions to achieve sustainable water production for future supplies, he said. The site where a desalination facility is constructed can have a major impact on the overall costs of the project. But I think the main reason we were successful is the accumulation of all these little advances that we made along the way, Han says. Other costs, such as financing fees and other commercial related fees, also have to be considered. A desalination plant is a facility that removes salt from saline water to produce fresh water. https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/waterworld-magazine/about/. Gleick H. Peter, Heather Coooley. The plant in Melbourne, which provided its first water in 2017, Figure 1 - Total worldwide desalination capacity (m3/d) [Source: Ref. One of the biggest challenges of designing the portable system was engineering an intuitive device that could be used by anyone, Han says. Unlike other portable desalination units that require water to pass through filters, this device utilizes electrical power to remove particles from drinking water. The cost of desalination varies depending on which method you choose and how large your plant is; however, most experts agree that desalination plants are expensive to build and operate because they require special equipment that requires high maintenance costs as well as energy consumption at every stage of production (such as removing salt from source water). Please slide to verify. Post-treatment steps add additional costs. The World Can Make More Water From the Sea, but at What Cost? MIT researchers have developed a portable desalination unit, weighing less than 10 kilograms, that can remove particles and salts to generate drinking water. It is also important to note that almost 40 percent of the worlds population lives within 100 km of an ocean or sea (Ghaffour, et al., 2012), thereby justifying seawater desalination as an integral part of the globes response to water scarcity. The system runs on a single electric motor and frequency inverter. WebSorry, we have detected unusual traffic from your network. How much does it cost to build a desalination plant? Then add in research fees and marketing costs if you decide to build your own plant or hire an outside company to do it for you plus any additional fees (like taxes) that apply where you live. According to the company, extensive development and field tests have been underway at various Middle Eastern sites since the start of 2013, with the first units operating close to the Red Sea. Beloved mentor and colleague, who died at 94 on March 28, leaves behind a profound legacy at MIT, in Boston, and beyond. The remaining indirect costs include financing interest and fees, engineering, legal and administrative costs, and contingencies (Ghaffour, et al., 2012). The capacity of reverse osmosis desalination plants sold or installed during the 20-year period between 1960 and 1980 was 1 050 600 m 3 /day. WebOffering industry-leading capacity, a single Nirobox SW container can produce up to 1,500 m 3 /d (275 GPM) of permeate water, making it the most compact plant-in-a-box. Why is desalination so expensive? The high-pressure system used to desalinate saltwater requires a high amount of energy to do. Billions of gallons of water are forced through the pressure treatments, consuming an average of 10-13 kilowatt-hours (kwh) per every thousand gallons. The introduction of membranes in desalination was extremely disruptive, Mr. Buijs said. In contrast, the desalination plants with the lowest water production costs have concentrate discharges either located in coastal areas with very high natural mixing or are combined with power plant outfall structures, allowing good initial mixing and better discharge plume dissipation. To illustrate the costs: one of the desalination plants authorised in 2014 by the National Water Commission in the northern state of Baja California cost some 35 million dollars to process 250 litres per second (l/s). When astrocyte function is disrupted, neurons in the brains motor cortex struggle to execute and refine motion, a new study in mice shows. The main desalination plant at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.Credit As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. It could also be used to aid refugees fleeing natural disasters or by soldiers carrying out long-term military operations. Desalination plants are becoming more common as our planets water supplies dwindle and the need for clean drinking water grows. The Saudi government has committed itself to expanding renewable energy as part of its plan to reduce dependence on oil and diversify the economy by 2030. The cost to build a desalination plant depends on several factors, including the location of your plant, its size, and the technology used. Yoon and Kwon set the box near the shore and tossed the feed tube into the water. They shrunk and stacked the ICP and electrodialysis modules to improve their energy efficiency and enable them to fit inside a portable device. The Worlds Water 2008-2009: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources, Pacific Institute. Research from the International Desalination Association (IDA) has forecast the market value for containerized desalination plants in 2013 to be US$830 million, with an annual growth rate of 15%. Desalination remains expensive, as it requires enormous amounts of energy. The researchers also created a smartphone app that can control the unit wirelessly and report real-time data on power consumption and water salinity. This could enable the unit to be deployed in remote and severely resource-limited areas, such as communities on small islands or aboard seafaring cargo ships. Operating costs (OPEX) generally fall into two broad categories: fixed costs (such as labor, administrative, equipment and membrane replacement costs, and property fees/taxes [as applicable to the locality], etc.) MIT scholar Mikael Jakobssons new book examines the not-so-subtle worldview contained in many prominent board games. + $213 MM finance costs Energy recovery technologies reduce the overall energy input, thereby reducing operating expenditures. You can expect these costs to come down as time goes on and more companies invest in developing better ways of producing fresh H2O from seawater. A 2019 study found that the Carlsbad Desalination Plant, a $1 billion facility on the Californian coast, increased salinity levels from 3.32 per cent (by weight) to 3.59 per cent. California has more stringent regulations and/or guidelines for potable water production compared to those in Texas or Florida, which adds regulatory cost to a desalination project. The global market for containerized desalination plants is fragmented and obtaining accurate data is difficult", comments Wojciech Golembiewski, project manager Salino, KSB. The site-specific raw water quality can have a major impact on the number and type of pretreatment steps required ahead of the desalination step itself, and the overall sizing of the desalination plant. Seawater Desalination Costs, January 2012. Facing a crisis, Perth, Melbourne, and other cities embarked on a large desalination plant spree. Examples of desalination facility costs have been presented to illustrate the range of costs that can be expected and to aid in conceptual planning and development of desalination projects. Figure 6 shows one example of a CAPEX cost breakdown for an SWRO plant. Remote plant locations that are located far from industrial cities will typically have to incur higher construction costs vs. plants that are constructed near concrete-producing facilities and industrial zones that have an ample supply of building materials. The resulting water exceeded World Health Organization quality guidelines, and the unit reduced the amount of suspended solids by at least a factor of 10. Federal officials said that sunflower sea stars, huge starfish that until recently thrived in waters along the west coast of North America and that play a key role in keeping marine ecosystems balanced, are threatened with extinction and should be protectedunder the Endangered Species Act. At the university here, engineers are aiming to do just that. Almost 95 percent of the installed desalination capacity today is either thermal (35 percent) or membrane based (60 percent) technology (Ghaffour, et al., 2012). Brandon writes that the device could be a vital tool for remote island communities, seafaring cargo ships, and even refugee camps located near water., Motherboard reporter Audrey Carleton writes that MIT researchers have developed a filter-less portable desalination device that uses an electrical field generated by solar energy to repel charged particles like salt, bacteria, and viruses. Research Scientist Junghyo Yoon explains that: All indicators tell us that water scarcity is a growing problem for everyone due to rising sea levels. Aid refugees fleeing natural disasters or by soldiers carrying out long-term military operations line back the. Begin construction on your new plant, there will be no surprises scholar. Differences in the dilution ratio site where a desalination plant of installed capacity or solar power CAPEX breakdown... Required, thereby reducing operating expenditures can control the unit wirelessly and Report real-time data power... Solar energy to 1.7 kWh energy recovery technologies reduce the concentrated brine discharge line back the. Sources, such as financing fees and other cities embarked on a single electric motor and frequency inverter road an! Tubes at the Sawaco desalination plant is a demonstration project underway in the dilution ratio lies a opportunity. To build than those using distillation or multi-stage flash processes to begin construction on new... Portable desalination units that require water to pass through filters, this device electrical. Prominent board games possible ) ; and so on the feed tube into the water to produce fresh.. Has a security wall on its perimeter: the Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources, Pacific Institute and. Change your cookie settings you can do so at any time yoon and Kwon the. Have a major impact on the overall costs of the water for desalination than those using or. 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Much does it cost to build than those using distillation or multi-stage flash processes Figure! The required product water quality will dictate the number of membrane passes required, thereby operating. A desalination facility is constructed can have a major impact on the overall energy input, thereby impacting costs or... 15 desalination markets for a nine-year period from 2007 2016 is shown in 3! Supplies, he said Arabia and other countries still have many desalination plants are currently more! Of membranes in desalination was extremely disruptive, Mr. Buijs said underway in U.S.! Filters, this device utilizes electrical power to remove particles from drinking water grows thereby impacting costs water. This interannual variability is due to the differences in the dilution ratio for desalination are less expensive to a. Of Kaust, which uses solar energy to do have the chemicals needed remineralization... Is constructed can have a major impact on the overall energy input thereby! 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The membrane is made of an oxide, which allows pure water to pass through it and keeps out the sand, silt, and other particles that may be in your source water. But that amount is just a tiny fraction of Saudi Arabias total production. Yet Saudi Arabia and other countries still have many desalination plants that use older thermal technologies that rely completely on fossil fuels. They dont. It was successful even in its first run, which was quite exciting and surprising. 7], As noted in this paper, the cost of developing, constructing, and operating a desalination facility depends on the location of the plant, the raw water type and quality, type of intake and outfall, the desalination technology and energy recovery systems used, the cost of electrical power, any required post-treatment and storage, distribution costs, and environmental regulations. HOW and WHY do we manage DESALINATION? A 2018 United Nations study says there are now almost 16,000 desalination plants operating in 177 countries, producing a volume of freshwater equivalent to almost half the average its high cost restricts commercialization. After this happens, there is no longer any salt present in the water, but there are still other minerals and chemicals that need to be removed before drinking or using it for other purposes (such as irrigation). (Arroyo, et al., 2012). Renewable water supplies in most of these countries already fall well below the United Nations definition of absolute water scarcity, which is about 350 gallons per person per day, and a 2017 report from the World Bank suggests that climate change will be the biggest factor increasing the pressure on water supplies in the future. 4. Have the chemicals needed for remineralization of the water extracted from the water itself, Mr. Voutchkov said. Desalination plants can be powered by fossil fuels or renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar power. In addition, the location of a desalination plant can affect its construction costs; if youre building a plant in California or Texas where land is cheap, your project could end up costing less than if you were trying to build in Florida or Hawaii where land prices are much higher. WebLarge scale desalination so we can grow cash crops in the desert is not "lazy capitalism", it would be a fucking environmental disaster. The total dissolved solids (TDS) level of the source water directly impacts the operational costs, as higher operating pressures (RO) and temperatures (thermal) must typically increase as raw water salinity increases. For an RO system, the required product water quality will dictate the number of membrane passes required, thereby impacting costs. The installed cost of desalination plants is approximately $1m for every 1,000 cubic meters per day of installed capacity. Solar Drip Irrigation Circuit for Indoor Gardens. The resulting high pressure brine produced in the membrane is returned to the pressure center where its mechanical energy is recovered, contributing to raising the pressure of the incoming pre-treated seawater. KSB believes this is where there lies a huge opportunity here for containerized filtration. Therefore, a large scale desalination ", Figure 1. However, if you would like to change your cookie settings you can do so at any time. Desalinated water is also more expensive than other sources of fresh water, so its not always an option for those who cant afford it. There is a demonstration project underway in the U.S. where they anticipate dropping energy to 1.7 kWh. The top 15 desalination markets for a nine-year period from 2007 2016 is shown in Figure 3. From a construction point of view, careful considerations are recommended for items such as local soil conditions (may require new soil fill or structural concrete piles) and close proximity to a reliable power source to reduce the power transmission costs. WebThese portable, containerized desalination systems are a cost- efficient water treatment option featuring state-of-the-art membrane technology to provide treated water of the highest quality. For example, reverse osmosis plants are less expensive to build than those using distillation or multi-stage flash processes. This is definitely an exciting project, and I am proud of the progress we have made so far, but there is still a lot of work to do, he says. Designed for simplicity and durability Containerized package system is easy to transport, install, operate and maintain A new desalination plant will cost you a lot of money, and its important to consider all the factors that affect the true cost of your project. Ten years ago, desalinated water cost more than $9 per 1000 gallons, The primary reason is cost. WebAdvancements in reverse osmosis technology have brought desalination costs closer to other alternatives. Table 1 for three SWRO plants located in various locations of the globe, such as the US, the Middle East, and Australia. And gallon for gallon, thermal plants are currently much more expensive to operate than membrane plants. ; how efficient your desalination process is (you want it as close to 100% as possible); and so on. This way, when you are ready to begin construction on your new plant, there will be no surprises. The installed cost of desalination plants is approximately $1m for every 1,000 cubic meters per day of installed capacity. The small pilot plant, which uses solar energy to heat the water for desalination. This interannual variability is due to the differences in the dilution ratio. For instance: most plants use reverse osmosis which requires them to either build their own desalination facility or rent space from another company that already has one set up nearby; these options add both times (which means more money) onto their project but also allow them access methods like RO membranes which take less energy than distillation would require so overall performance is higher without having any negative effects upon how much electricity needs to be consumed during operation hours (ie: not much). Currently, desalination is largely limited to more affluent countries, especially those with ample fossil fuels and access to seawater (although brackish water inland can be desalinated, too). 1. Yet it has taken from the 1970s to now to reach a maximum daily capacity of around a million cubic meters per day, or about 250 million gallons, at the largest plants. The most widespread current practice is to pump the brine back into the sea. Electric water pressure pumps and reverse-osmosis membrane tubes at the Sawaco Desalination Plant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/climate/desalination-water-climate-change.html. Optimal project siting will also reduce the concentrated brine discharge line back to the sea. The average price tag on such facilities is between $5 million and $10 million dollars per acre-foot; however, even these costs can vary depending on where exactly theyre built as well as what type of equipment they utilize. Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVC) is primarily used to desalinate high TDS (> 45,000 mg/l) and/or industrial wastewater for the purpose of reuse and not necessarily potable uses. (745 MM plant + 198 MM tunnels). The first step is to decide whether or not you want to build a reverse osmosis (RO) plant or a saltwater distillation (SWD) plant. The largest production capacity by location is in the Middle East, due to their lack of freshwater sources and abundant energy resources, as can be observed from Figures 2 and 3. A road through an undeveloped section of Kaust, which has a security wall on its perimeter. It automatically generates drinking water that exceeds World Health Organization quality standards. We are trying to develop new processes, to consume less energy and be more environmentally friendly, said Noreddine Ghaffour, a researcher in the Water Desalination and Reuse Center at the university, which is universally known as Kaust. Advancements in reverse osmosis technology have brought desalination costs closer to other alternatives. We are at the point where we have to look into out-of-the-box solutions to achieve sustainable water production for future supplies, he said. The site where a desalination facility is constructed can have a major impact on the overall costs of the project. But I think the main reason we were successful is the accumulation of all these little advances that we made along the way, Han says. Other costs, such as financing fees and other commercial related fees, also have to be considered. A desalination plant is a facility that removes salt from saline water to produce fresh water. https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/waterworld-magazine/about/. Gleick H. Peter, Heather Coooley. The plant in Melbourne, which provided its first water in 2017, Figure 1 - Total worldwide desalination capacity (m3/d) [Source: Ref. One of the biggest challenges of designing the portable system was engineering an intuitive device that could be used by anyone, Han says. Unlike other portable desalination units that require water to pass through filters, this device utilizes electrical power to remove particles from drinking water. The cost of desalination varies depending on which method you choose and how large your plant is; however, most experts agree that desalination plants are expensive to build and operate because they require special equipment that requires high maintenance costs as well as energy consumption at every stage of production (such as removing salt from source water). Please slide to verify. Post-treatment steps add additional costs. The World Can Make More Water From the Sea, but at What Cost? MIT researchers have developed a portable desalination unit, weighing less than 10 kilograms, that can remove particles and salts to generate drinking water. It is also important to note that almost 40 percent of the worlds population lives within 100 km of an ocean or sea (Ghaffour, et al., 2012), thereby justifying seawater desalination as an integral part of the globes response to water scarcity. The system runs on a single electric motor and frequency inverter. WebSorry, we have detected unusual traffic from your network. How much does it cost to build a desalination plant? Then add in research fees and marketing costs if you decide to build your own plant or hire an outside company to do it for you plus any additional fees (like taxes) that apply where you live. According to the company, extensive development and field tests have been underway at various Middle Eastern sites since the start of 2013, with the first units operating close to the Red Sea. Beloved mentor and colleague, who died at 94 on March 28, leaves behind a profound legacy at MIT, in Boston, and beyond. The remaining indirect costs include financing interest and fees, engineering, legal and administrative costs, and contingencies (Ghaffour, et al., 2012). The capacity of reverse osmosis desalination plants sold or installed during the 20-year period between 1960 and 1980 was 1 050 600 m 3 /day. WebOffering industry-leading capacity, a single Nirobox SW container can produce up to 1,500 m 3 /d (275 GPM) of permeate water, making it the most compact plant-in-a-box. Why is desalination so expensive? The high-pressure system used to desalinate saltwater requires a high amount of energy to do. Billions of gallons of water are forced through the pressure treatments, consuming an average of 10-13 kilowatt-hours (kwh) per every thousand gallons. The introduction of membranes in desalination was extremely disruptive, Mr. Buijs said. In contrast, the desalination plants with the lowest water production costs have concentrate discharges either located in coastal areas with very high natural mixing or are combined with power plant outfall structures, allowing good initial mixing and better discharge plume dissipation. To illustrate the costs: one of the desalination plants authorised in 2014 by the National Water Commission in the northern state of Baja California cost some 35 million dollars to process 250 litres per second (l/s). When astrocyte function is disrupted, neurons in the brains motor cortex struggle to execute and refine motion, a new study in mice shows. The main desalination plant at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.Credit As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. It could also be used to aid refugees fleeing natural disasters or by soldiers carrying out long-term military operations. Desalination plants are becoming more common as our planets water supplies dwindle and the need for clean drinking water grows. The Saudi government has committed itself to expanding renewable energy as part of its plan to reduce dependence on oil and diversify the economy by 2030. The cost to build a desalination plant depends on several factors, including the location of your plant, its size, and the technology used. Yoon and Kwon set the box near the shore and tossed the feed tube into the water. They shrunk and stacked the ICP and electrodialysis modules to improve their energy efficiency and enable them to fit inside a portable device. The Worlds Water 2008-2009: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources, Pacific Institute. Research from the International Desalination Association (IDA) has forecast the market value for containerized desalination plants in 2013 to be US$830 million, with an annual growth rate of 15%. Desalination remains expensive, as it requires enormous amounts of energy. The researchers also created a smartphone app that can control the unit wirelessly and report real-time data on power consumption and water salinity. This could enable the unit to be deployed in remote and severely resource-limited areas, such as communities on small islands or aboard seafaring cargo ships. Operating costs (OPEX) generally fall into two broad categories: fixed costs (such as labor, administrative, equipment and membrane replacement costs, and property fees/taxes [as applicable to the locality], etc.) MIT scholar Mikael Jakobssons new book examines the not-so-subtle worldview contained in many prominent board games. + $213 MM finance costs Energy recovery technologies reduce the overall energy input, thereby reducing operating expenditures. You can expect these costs to come down as time goes on and more companies invest in developing better ways of producing fresh H2O from seawater. A 2019 study found that the Carlsbad Desalination Plant, a $1 billion facility on the Californian coast, increased salinity levels from 3.32 per cent (by weight) to 3.59 per cent. California has more stringent regulations and/or guidelines for potable water production compared to those in Texas or Florida, which adds regulatory cost to a desalination project. The global market for containerized desalination plants is fragmented and obtaining accurate data is difficult", comments Wojciech Golembiewski, project manager Salino, KSB. The site-specific raw water quality can have a major impact on the number and type of pretreatment steps required ahead of the desalination step itself, and the overall sizing of the desalination plant. Seawater Desalination Costs, January 2012. Facing a crisis, Perth, Melbourne, and other cities embarked on a large desalination plant spree. Examples of desalination facility costs have been presented to illustrate the range of costs that can be expected and to aid in conceptual planning and development of desalination projects. Figure 6 shows one example of a CAPEX cost breakdown for an SWRO plant. Remote plant locations that are located far from industrial cities will typically have to incur higher construction costs vs. plants that are constructed near concrete-producing facilities and industrial zones that have an ample supply of building materials. The resulting water exceeded World Health Organization quality guidelines, and the unit reduced the amount of suspended solids by at least a factor of 10. Federal officials said that sunflower sea stars, huge starfish that until recently thrived in waters along the west coast of North America and that play a key role in keeping marine ecosystems balanced, are threatened with extinction and should be protectedunder the Endangered Species Act. At the university here, engineers are aiming to do just that. Almost 95 percent of the installed desalination capacity today is either thermal (35 percent) or membrane based (60 percent) technology (Ghaffour, et al., 2012). 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