Abstract
Desalination offers a technological alternative to transform the inexhaustible supply of sea water into potable fresh water and could assist alleviating future water scarcity. Desalination technologies are classified under two broad categories: distillation processes and membrane processes. In addition to the more established technologies used today, there are emerging methods under active development, with some nearing commercialisation. These new emerging desalination technologies are described in this chapter. Reduction in the cost of membranes, high-permeability membranes, improved operational efficiency and integration of energy recovery processes in the last few years have made membrane technology more economical to thermal desalination processes and competitive with other alternative and conventional means of water supply. The chapter illustrates an example of a commercially available small RO plant. It discusses related issues of environmental impacts, renewable energy sources (RES), and sustainable water supplies. The chapter also presents a case study on The Thames Water Desalination Plant
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Water Resources in the Built Environment |
| Subtitle of host publication | Management Issues and Solutions |
| Editors | Colin A Booth, Sue M Charlesworth |
| Place of Publication | Oxford |
| Publisher | Wiley |
| Pages | 92 - 103 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-0-470-67091-0 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2014 |
Keywords
- Distillation processes
- Membrane processes
- Renewable energy sources (RES)
- Sustainable water supplies
- Thames Water Desalination Plant
- Water desalination
