Veolia Water Technologies by GineersNow Engineering Magazine GineersNow Engineering Magazine September 2016 | Page 20

HOW MUCH
WATER DO WE
REALLY GET FROM
DESALINATION
PLANTS?
Not everyone has access to clean water
today. The United Nations even predicts
that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will suffer
living with absolute water scarcity. But
this may change when companies like
IDE Technologies will expand to use the
desalination process in producing clean
water.
IDE Technologies in Israel is already
revolutionizing the water sector by treating
sea water to become fresh water. The
company claims to produce 3 million cubic
meters of high quality water worldwide in
only a day. It boasts of the Sorek Project,
which the company say is the world’s
largest and most advanced seawater
reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination
plant. The plant uses a process called
reverse osmosis, wherein the sea water
is pumped out of the sea and is forced
through membranes under high pressure
which leaves the salt behind.
Miriam Faigon, senior director of
water solutions and products at IDE
Technologies, affirms the company’s
contribution with the water supply in the
country. She said, “The Sorek desalination
plant is producing 624,000 cubic meters
(of water) per day, which is about 20
percent of the domestic usage in Israel.”
IDE Technologies is only one of the more
than 18,000 desalination plants in the
20
SEPTEMBER 2016
Clean Water Technologies
Photo by IDE
world as reported by the International Desalination Association (IDA) in June 30 last year. Collectively, the
desalination plants generate 22.9 billion gallons of water everyday, to which over 300 million people depend
on.
Photo by GrahamScutt