Sustainable desalination: the future of water in a resource-constrained world

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Efficient water management is a critical challenge in the 21st century, driven by increasing demand, climate change, and urbanization. Integrating desalination technologies with renewable energy sources like solar and wind offers a revolutionary solution to water scarcity, promising economic, environmental, and resource management benefits. Experts David Balsar and Alejandro Jiménez highlight that while these innovations can sustainably address water shortages, obstacles such as high facility costs, coastal dependencies, and energy consumption must be overcome. Additionally, tapping into saline groundwater reserves inland through advanced desalination can expand irrigation possibilities, boosting global food security and sustainable agriculture.

Israel exemplifies successful water management through its legal framework, advanced infrastructure, wastewater reuse, and desalination technologies, enabling it to achieve water surplus despite limited natural resources. Mekorot’s approach includes public ownership of water, precise measurement, and a diversified supply from seawater, brackish water, surface water, aquifers, and treated wastewater. Acciona, a Spanish firm, has advanced sustainable desalination by reducing costs and energy consumption and powering large plants with renewable energy, such as wind-powered desalination in Morocco. Innovative brine management solutions, like using brine in concrete production, offer promising methods to mitigate environmental impacts. Despite progress, challenges remain in political coordination and pricing, but collaboration and technology adoption can secure a future where water scarcity is no longer a global threat.

Experts from the Future Trends Forum share innovative solutions in water desalination, the key to overcoming the global water crisis

Addressing efficient water management is one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century. The constant increase in demand for water resources, coupled with the impact of climate change and rapid urbanization, is leading governments and industries to seek sustainable solutions.

Imagine a world where access to fresh water is unlimited, powered by the infinite energy of the sun and wind. Combining desalination technologies with clean energy sources is more than an innovative idea; It is a revolution in the making that promises to solve one of humanity’s most pressing challenges. This synergy opens up unprecedented opportunities to transform economies, protect the environment, and redefine how we manage our most vital resources.

During the Future Trends Forum event The quest for clean waters, experts such as David Balsar, Director of Innovation and Alliances at Makorot and Alejandro Jiménez, Director of Business Development and Strategy at Acciona, highlighted that these innovations, in addition to solving water scarcity, also provide economic and environmental benefits. The global adoption of these technologies, in combination with the integration of clean energy sources, will allow us to manage our water resources in a sustainable and resilient way, overcoming the challenges that still restrict their implementation: high cost of facilities, coastal dependence and high energy consumed in the desalination process.

On the other hand, a very interesting idea pointed out by experts is to be able to transform agriculture by taking advantage of the enormous reserves of saline groundwater that exist under our feet, without depending on the proximity to the sea. A significant portion of global groundwater is estimated to be saline or contains high levels of minerals, making it a hitherto underutilized resource. Thanks to innovative desalination technologies, it is now possible to treat this water and make it suitable for irrigation, opening new frontiers for agricultural production in inland and arid regions. This opportunity expands access to water in areas where freshwater is scarce and, in addition, promotes sustainable practices that can boost food security globally.

If you want to see the presentations of these experts, you can do so in these videos:

David Balsar: “Seawater: Desalination (i)” #WaterForum

Alejandro Jiménez: “Seawater: Desalination (ii)” #WaterForum

Mekorot: Innovation and Technology in Water Management in Israel -H1

Israel is a country with limited water resources. However, through innovation, it has achieved a position of world leadership in water management, even reaching a surplus in its supply. According to David Balsar, Israel’s success is based on four key pillars: public policy, infrastructure, wastewater treatment, and desalination.

Public Policies and Legality -H2

One of the fundamental factors in the Israeli model is its legal framework, which includes two key laws. The first establishes that all water belongs to the public, prohibiting private property. The second requires measuring every drop of water, which allows resources to be managed efficiently and appropriate prices to be set. Thanks to these principles, Mekorot is able to invest around $500 million per year in new projects and infrastructure maintenance.

Advanced water infrastructure -H2

Israel has developed a complex water transport system, which allows the resource to be moved from the north to the south of the country, and vice versa. This system includes five different water sources: seawater desalination, brackish water desalination, surface water, underground aquifers, and treated wastewater. This flexibility is crucial to secure supply despite geographical and climatic constraints.

Wastewater Reuse -H2

The use of treated wastewater is a centerpiece of Israel’s strategy. 90% of wastewater is treated and reused, mainly in agriculture. In desert regions like the Negev, this water enables the production of crops such as tomatoes, peppers, and dates, which generate billions of dollars in exports. This approach maximises the use of resources and drives a circular economy by using biogas generated during the treatment process.

Desalination: A paradigm shift -H2

Desalination is another key piece in Israel’s water strategy. Over the past two decades, Israel has developed five seawater desalination plants in the Mediterranean, and one more in the Red Sea. Today, 50% of drinking water in Israel comes from desalination. This technology has been essential in overcoming droughts and ensuring a stable supply, although it is not without challenges, such as high energy costs and brine management.

Acciona: Sustainable desalination on the global stage -H1

Acciona, a Spanish multinational company, has become a benchmark in the construction of sustainable desalination infrastructures. Alejandro Jiménez argues that desalination is already a completely sustainable technology, especially when compared to groundwater extraction, where often, and due to the depth at which they are found, a lot of engineering and a lot of energy are required to put this type of system into operation.

Reducing costs and improving H2 energy efficiency

One of the main challenges of desalination has been its high cost, especially for its use in agriculture. However, Jiménez points out that recent advances have reduced the cost of producing desalinated water to less than 50 euro cents per cubic meter, making it a viable option even for agriculture in countries such as Israel, Morocco and Spain.

In terms of energy consumption, Acciona has made great strides. The desalination plants of 30 years ago consumed more than 10 kilowatt hours per cubic meter. Today, that number has dropped to around 3 kWh/m³, making supplying desalinated water to a household as efficient as consuming a refrigerator.

Desalination powered by renewable energies -H2

Acciona has also integrated renewable energies into its desalination plants. A prominent example is the plant in Casablanca, Morocco, one of the largest in the world. This plant has a capacity of 822,000 cubic meters of water per day and is completely powered by wind energy. In addition, the cost of water production in this plant is less than 50 euro cents per cubic meter, which shows that it is possible to combine large desalination infrastructures with renewable energies efficiently.

H2-brine management

One of the most controversial issues in desalination is the management of brine, the concentrated by-product of separating salt from water. Jiménez clarifies that brine is, in essence, concentrated seawater, and with correct dilution, it has no harmful effects on the environment. The use of diffusers and the proper choice of discharge points ensure that the brine is returned to the sea without significant impact. But this is not a widespread opinion among experts.

Innovative solutions for brine management -H2

In this context, innovative solutions are emerging to address the brine problem. A recent example, commented on by expert Carlos Duarte, Research Professor in Red Sea Ecology at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), shows that brine can become a valuable resource. Duarte says that a few years ago a global challenge called Brain for Brines was launched, where engineering schools around the world were challenged to find solutions to reuse brine and prevent its discharge into the ocean. Although creative ideas emerged, none managed to solve the problem on a large scale. Recently, however, a technology has emerged that uses brine on a large scale effectively. This breakthrough came almost by chance, through an American company called Partanna, founded by former basketball player Rick Fox. Fox, affected by the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, decided to create a climate relief organization. Later, he founded a climate innovation company that develops climate-positive concrete. Due to the shortage of materials in the Bahamas, Partanna figured out how to incorporate brine into concrete production, making 40% of the volume of concrete come from this byproduct. This technology was not specifically designed to solve the brine problem, but it is the first that, on a large scale, manages to incorporate this waste into a very useful product, offering a solution to a problem that affects many desalination plants around the world.

This breakthrough represents a new opportunity to integrate desalination with brine reuse, which could transform the way the by-products of this process are managed.

Using brine to make cement is a concrete example of how waste can be turned into valuable resources when innovative technologies are applied.

Challenges and the Way to the Future -H1

Despite the advances in desalination, both David Balsar and Alejandro Jiménez agree that there are still challenges. On the one hand, public administrations remain fragmented in many countries, making it difficult to build large-scale infrastructure. On the other hand, water prices, often set politically, do not reflect the true costs of desalination and distribution, which affects the economic viability of these technologies.

The future of water management depends on the ability of governments and businesses to work together, establish strong legal frameworks, and adopt new technologies. With successful examples such as Israel and Acciona’s innovative solutions, it is possible to envision a future in which water scarcity is no longer a global threat, thanks to desalination, reuse and renewable energies.

More articles from the series on The quest for clean waters forum: