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Imagine drinking sea water! Is it as crazy as it sounds? Not when you realise that 200 million people are already doing it! With the planet containing 97% salt water and with 40% of the population living within 100 km of the sea, this technique is destined for a bright future. Yet less than 1% of drinking water is produced through desalination. So what’s stopping it? Until now, the technique has been a little too energy intensive, but constant innovations are slashing its energy bill. We take a closer look at an extraordinary metamorphosis.

Reverse osmosis leads the way

A certain technology is taking hold throughout the world thanks to the progress made to reduce energy consumption in infrastructures and thus bring down production costs: reverse osmosis. This technology involves sending salt water at very high pressure through a very fine membrane, and has made great progress in terms of energy in recent years thanks to work done on membranes on the one hand and the enhanced performance of energy recovery systems on the other.

In fact, the hydropower generated by the process is recovered thanks to Pelton turbines or pressure exchangers, and reused to reduce energy consumption in infrastructures. These methods are so effective that we are now capable of producing “23 litres of clean water consuming as much electricity as a 100-watt bulb for one hour.”

Desalination in Australia as a response to water stress

Thanks to its subsidiary Degrémont, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT has become a world leader in the sector. One illustration of its know-how is the desalination plant in the state of Victoria, which is an essential point of reference. The result of one million hours of research and over three years of work, this plant is capable of producing 450,000 m3 of drinking water every day thus meeting the needs of one-third of the city of Melbourne’s residents. Nationwide, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT supplies five million Australians (20% of the population) with drinking water and spearheads ambitious, sustainable projects to put an end to dependence on rainfall in a country that lives in fear of “the Big Dry”.

The extraordinary story of the Victorian Desalination Plant (Australia)

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Updated on 22.01.14