/r/Desalination

Photograph via snooOG

Removing salt from water to create fresh drinking water for the world.

This subreddit is dedicated to desalination, whether it's distillation, reverse osmosis, or something completely new.

/r/Desalination

757 Subscribers

3

Kids project

I grew up watching the Voyage of the Mimi when I was a kid. I was thinking of putting together a seawater still of some sort on the beach at my grandparents camp. I thought it might be cool to get the nibblings involved in a project or two this summer ... make some drinking water for the dogs from seawater.

Anyone have any ideas? Are there existing plans for things like this. Planning on macgyvering as much as possible from found items on the beach and around the toolshed...

0 Comments
2024/02/06
22:01 UTC

1

How many PEM membranes used in 1 electrolysis plant processing 500m3 water per day?

Hi all, total newbie to desalination and associated electrolysis processes. How many PEM membranes are typically used in 1 electrolysis plant that is processing 500 m3 of water per day? Where can I find this type of information?

0 Comments
2024/01/29
20:13 UTC

2

Turbidity blocking pre filters in RO system

Hi, I'm using Reverse Osmosis system to filter water from a salt water tidal river. The water is sometimes very turbid blocking the 20 micron and 5 micron pre filters quickly. What can I do to improve my system? Maybe a Spin down filter? Or sand filter? Thanks

2 Comments
2024/01/22
11:33 UTC

4

Is Desalination the Future of Water?

I just did a bit of a dive into the desalination industry. It was interesting to learn about the tech but also the challenges in rolling it out more widely. Obviously it often comes down to energy consumption, but when San Diego green-lit a project when Huntington Beach just up the road rejected one, there was more to it than just water. Often the subsea topography is a big influence. But most interesting to learn about were the startups looking to address the issue with brine. There are often metals and minerals present that could be harvested, adding further value to the process and helping the economics of the project.

My report can be found here if interested: https://emergingoceans.substack.com/p/desalination-the-future-of-fresh

3 Comments
2024/01/19
16:46 UTC

3

Hello water lovers of Reddit

I am a member of a team of students whose main goal is to combat the growing water crisis by creating a new process for the desalination of sea water. In order to complete this goal, however, we first need to understand what we are dealing with. Attached to this post is a survey that my team and I have created which asks questions about desalination processes in your area, as well as your thoughts on those systems and the water they produce.

If you are in an area that uses these systems, and you are knowledgeable about how these systems work for your community, I ask that you please fill out this survey. Please help us find new ways to bring water to the world, before it is too late and there is no more water left to enjoy.

Form

0 Comments
2023/11/14
19:26 UTC

1

MED (Multiple-effect distillation) plants out there in Europe?

How can I find what plants are under operation, or construction?
I am most interested in MED plants in Europe, and Spain.

Thanks for any info.

0 Comments
2023/08/29
09:19 UTC

1

Idea: Gravity Fed Modular Solar Distillation in the Coachella Valley (SoCal)

After seeing the proposal from Saudi Arabia to create a mega glass sphere for desalination via solar heat distillation, I thought of this.

Imagine a canal of sealed concrete pipes that would elevate above sea level somewhat, so if the pumps stopped or it was abandoned the Salton Sea wouldn’t get any bigger.

In the Coachella Valley, 100 feet below sea level, have a solar farm made up of tens of thousands of 40’ x 8’ modular steel boxes (see where I’m going?), which open up on top to have glass topped solar distillation skylight boxes. Each box would be self contained with automated brine management and drying system and have a 10-20 year service life, to balance initial cost with total levelized cost. Garden hoses could be used to connect each boxes seawater inlet and freshwater outlet.

When the dry brine dumpster gets full, open the doors and swap it for an empty. Truck the dry brine to the nearest bulk rail terminal for disposal or market.

When there’s an issue with the brine management and drying system, or when it reaches the end of its service life, close the top of the box and truck it out of its spot as it’s now a shipping container.

Pump most of the freshwater created from this modular solar distillation farm back on the same sealed concrete pipe canal right of way until it needs to branch off to be pumped into municipal water supplies for coastal Southern California cities.

2 Comments
2023/08/21
22:22 UTC

5

Opportunities to consolidate/optimize the desalination industry?

Hi all,

I am working in a European investment company looking to initiate and/or consolidate sustainable industrial-scale companies fast via heavy capital deployment, top-tier advisors and leaders, and strong ties to regional policy makers. Our hypothesis is that

  1. there are existing technologies/solutions out there that could (relatively) easily be scaled up within the next 2-4 years if capital and top-tier management is deployed from the get-go and any non-core tech is licensed
  2. these solutions have simply not been scaled because the industry is fragmented and regionally divided.
  3. there is also an opportunity to optimize/retrofit existing sites with new technologies such as supercavitation and Multi

Effect Distillation Adsorption Desalination..

Do any of you see particular opportunities ripe for scaling in the industry? Or do you see other important considerations not covered by my thinking?

Happy to get in touch over this topic!

0 Comments
2023/06/28
19:06 UTC

1

What chemical additives are employed in current-technology RO drsalination planta

I expect sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid for pH control and to regenerate ion exchange polishers if used. Calcium hydroxide for softening? Coagulants and flocculants?Dispersents? Scale inhibitors? Biocides? Other?

0 Comments
2023/06/19
04:43 UTC

3

Recommended books

Looking to see if there are some key books to start learning about this industry. Right now I am reading some oceanography books, but for desalination specifically is there anything notable?

Thanks

1 Comment
2023/05/20
19:03 UTC

2

are they're any scientists in the house? It's my first time on reddit. And I had some questions on desalination.

7 Comments
2023/05/06
17:22 UTC

1

Is table water having the biggest markup in consumer goods worldwide?

Many people claim that table water is overpriced by a lot and a simple math indicates that.

I've read that desalinating 1 liter of saltwater costs around 1-4 cents (USD). But in the average market one liter of table water easily reaches 1-2$. What makes for a possibly 100-200 times more expensive end product?

Transportation should be a small factor since we get food for decent prices and it's also bulky and heavy. For example people transport 1 kilogram of bananas from Ecuador to my country 7613 miles away and the end product costs like 1.5-2$ :). Taxes are like 20% on the final price.

The only thing that kinda could explain it is a huge markup by the government via excise taxes (similarly to gasoline) due to water regulations, but I've never seen any data suggesting that the selling of table water in shops brings in lots of cash daily... It's not purchased, as much as gasoline, but water is the one thing literally everyone needs.

Also who needs to regulate that much seawater when there is plenty of it? It's not like desalination plants are build on protected freshwater rivers :D.

Also why are desalination plants not the biggest sellers of sea salt if they produce so much of it?

0 Comments
2023/04/29
06:58 UTC

5

Best stocks involved in Desalination?

I know that Consolidated Water (ticker CWCO) is perfect for what I am asking, but I want to research other similar companies and I am having difficulties with that since most companies do many additional things like wastewater cleaning, storage systems etc.

CWCO currently has 32 PE ratio which might be expensive, but it has several projects on the horizon with great revenue.

0 Comments
2023/04/29
06:46 UTC

5

Environmental impact

I'm very interested in the topic of desalination. One issue I don't really understand is the argument around the impact to the environment. I get that discharging brine into the ocean creates an environmental problem. I fully agree that we'll need to figure out how to deal with those problems and mitigate them. What I don't understand is how the environmental impact of our current water usage/transportation gets completely and utterly ignored.

A perfect example of my argument is the Los Angeles aqueduct. Exporting the water from the Owens Valley to the Los Angeles basin has created one of the worst environmental disasters in human history. An entire valley was turned into a desert over about 20 years and has remained a desert for the last 100. Local humans, fish, birds, and plants have suffered immensely as a result.

Owens Lake, once a navigable body of water, now dry, produces the 3rd largest source of airborne pollution in the world in the form of toxic dust storms. In order to mitigate this particular problem, LADWP has spent upwards of $2.5 billion dollars of the last 20 or so years in dust mitigation. I don't understand how spending that kind of coin on dust mitigation makes any sense at all when desal plants to replace the flow of the aqueduct could have easily been constructed with the same funds.

If the construction of the Los Angeles aqueduct were held to today's environmental impact standards, I don't believe it would have ever been built. In my estimation, any statement of environmental impact of desal, has to include the benefits of the re-allocation of existing water. LADWP could very well return the water to the Owens valley and fix what they broke a long time ago. The increase in land values and the sale of said land back to the public would help offset the cost of the desal plants as well.

I haven't studied other sources of water for SoCal like the Central Valley or the Colorado River, but I'd have to imagine similar findings, especially for the Colorado.

I view the environment as a wash, leaving only the question of sustainable energy to run desal plants. Help me out here folks, what am I missing?

0 Comments
2023/04/12
20:17 UTC

2

Open Source PROJECT: 3D Model of Multi-Stage Flash

Greetings

I am trying to create a 3D model of Multi-Stage Flash main Components ( Chambers, Brine Heater, Condensers, Tank ). I hope to 3D print it on a smaller scale ( sufficient for a 120 cm x 80 cm table ).

I am trying to get *reasonable* dimensions between all components and then scale it down for my required size for 3D printing, is there any good resources that guide me into getting these dimensions?

unfortunately for me. most literature work that has been done on MSF tends to focus on process design. Mathematical modelling.Design Analysis ..etc but not the actual dimensions of the structure itself :) . Any ideas how can I achieve my humble goal? that would be highly appreciated

Since no MSF 3D model is available online. I will be happy to share the model with GrabCad Community ( https://grabcad.com/library ) and making it available for all.

Thank you

0 Comments
2023/03/16
17:18 UTC

6

Israel refills the Sea of Galilee, supplying Jordan on the way

0 Comments
2023/01/30
23:24 UTC

2

Water certificates - do you think something similar to CO2 will be there in a few years?

Looking at what CO2 certificates contributed to the industry (e.g. ClimeWorks) I’m wondering if something similar can help eg desalination become an investment case again and spark startup projects in that area.

What do you think?

0 Comments
2023/01/29
20:55 UTC

4

anyone knows what is this !

1 Comment
2023/01/12
14:24 UTC

2

Disposing of "salt", managing pollution, and managing energy costs.

I recently saw some documentaries about desalinization.

What are the plans for safely disposing of the "salt", things distilled out of ocean water?

What about managing pollution from burning fossil fuels?

What the plans to protect ocean life from the machines?

9 Comments
2023/01/08
15:14 UTC

1

reverse osmosis

10 Comments
2023/01/07
06:03 UTC

3

What are the negative ramifications of dumping water into an arid climate?

I've been mulling this over in my mind for a while, but what would be the negative impacts of say, running an oil pipeline from the Atlantic Ocean deep into the Sahara Desert? It would create a salt lake, sure, but wouldn't the sea water eventually evaporate and lead to climatological changes in the area? Beyond contaminating ground water and or aquifers, what are the drawbacks to this?

2 Comments
2022/12/21
18:51 UTC

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