The transition from thermal to membrane-based seawater desalination—industry insights article

Steady improvements in the specific energy consumption of reverse osmosis desalination have led to its increasing dominance of the seawater desalination industry. While energy consumption is clearly the dominant factor in assessing the environmental impact of desalination technologies, there are other factors involved in the transition from thermal-based to membrane-based desalination that need to be considered in assessing the full environmental costs. These include the impact of product water containing higher total dissolved solids on transmission systems and on the suitable use cases for desalinated water, the large quantity of composite polymer waste generated by membrane desalination, and the higher brine concentrations discharged into marine environments. This perspective article gives an industrial insight into these challenges from the viewpoint of one of the global leaders in the seawater desalination industry, the Saudi Water Authority.