Comments on: Engineered Osmosis: Revolutionizing Saltwater Desalination

By: Jan Williams

Jan Williams — Wed, 25 May 2011 07:42:00 +0000

Mr. Phelan: With all due respect: and your perfect solution is?

By: U.S. Water Use Declines Despite 30% Population Increase : CleanTechnica

U.S. Water Use Declines Despite 30% Population Increase : CleanTechnica — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:57:40 +0000

[...] water consumption and greenhouse gas emission variable on the horizon is the increased use of desalination facilities to address regional water needs. Although advances in technology are cutting down the [...]

By: Celia

Celia — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:52:52 +0000

We need to do something soon and let’s not worry about what to do with the waste (brine effluent) -

What do we do with nuclear waste and isn’t that more of a dangerous pollutant? Unfortunately we need nuclear power but clean water is just as necessary.

By: Celia

Celia — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:52:00 +0000

We need to do something soon and let’s not worry about what to do with the waste (brine effluent) -

What do we do with nuclear waste and isn’t that more of a dangerous pollutant? Unfortunately we need nuclear power but clean water is just as necessary.

By: louise Jay

louise Jay — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:27:07 +0000

I am sick and tired of the constant complaints about no water in Southern California with that big ocean out there just waiting for the tide to rise from the glacier melts, and some politicians want to put pipelines from north to south, which obviously will cost more that the new desalinization techs. and do not promise to last any better than the current flows from the north. Why don’t some companies form to meet this need? Obviously it is guarenteed profitable. $$ is waiting o the sidelines. Lets get on with it!!!!! Louise

By: louise Jay

louise Jay — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:27:00 +0000

By: Matthew Phelan

Matthew Phelan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:25:47 +0000

Let me field this one for Paul:

The main “pollutant” is the warm, heavily salted water that remains once a bunch of drinkable water has been removed. It’s what’s typically called “brine effluent.”

Too much of it dumped in one place can mess with the delicate ecology for marine life and as such needs to be dispersed or diluted by various mechanisms.

There’s a whole bunch of methods for doing this. I wish I could speak to “how much desal companies care about this issue” vs. “how much is lip service.”

Example:

http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JHEND8000134000001000116000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes

By: Matthew Phelan

Matthew Phelan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:25:00 +0000

Let me field this one for Paul:

The main “pollutant” is the warm, heavily salted water that remains once a bunch of drinkable water has been removed. It’s what’s typically called “brine effluent.”

Too much of it dumped in one place can mess with the delicate ecology for marine life and as such needs to be dispersed or diluted by various mechanisms.

There’s a whole bunch of methods for doing this. I wish I could speak to “how much desal companies care about this issue” vs. “how much is lip service.”

Example:

http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JHEND8000134000001000116000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:31:43 +0000

This is encouraging, but the question that remains is, where does the material that is filtered out of the water go? I seem to recall that being a source of pollution in earlier desalination efforts.

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:31:00 +0000

This is encouraging, but the question that remains is, where does the material that is filtered out of the water go? I seem to recall that being a source of pollution in earlier desalination efforts.

By: Ravi Soparkar

Ravi Soparkar — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:38:01 +0000

Congratulations for developing low cost desalination technology. This will help to solve major problem of drinking water for many people in developing countries. I would be happy to receive more info and updates on this teschnology.

Ravi Soparkar, Pune, India

aquacontrol at in.com

By: Ravi Soparkar

Ravi Soparkar — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:38:00 +0000

Ravi Soparkar, Pune, India

aquacontrol at in.com

By: mridkash

mridkash — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:08:53 +0000

Solar Energy can also be used, on a wide scale, for water desalination.

Either using sunlight generated electricity or heat.

By: mridkash

mridkash — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:08:00 +0000

Solar Energy can also be used, on a wide scale, for water desalination.

Either using sunlight generated electricity or heat.

By: ike solem

ike solem — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:00:59 +0000

See Australia for some examples of solar-powered renewable energy/desalination systems:

http://www.solardesalination.com.au/content/070607-SchneiderPressRelease2.html

European engineers have constructed a number of portable solar water systems:

http://www.enviro-friendly.com/zonnewater-desalination.shtml

There are also some U.S. manufacturers:

http://www.csrwire.com/News/7743.html

“Completely portable and easily assembled on site, the Solar Cube is powered by sunlight and wind, and can provide up to 3,500 gallons of clean drinking water per day from polluted water or salt water — enough to sustain hundreds of families during a disaster. It can also provide enough energy for emergency disaster officials to power refrigeration for emergency medical supplies, keep a laptop on-line, or ensure that crisis communications equipment remains operational.”