Water scarcity is an increasing phenomenon that already affects 4 billion people today. Water resources are becoming scarcer due to population growth, an increased water footprint and climate change.

The key objective of this project is to get sustainable access to clean water from unlimited resources. Considering the water resources, desalination is the key to getting access to more fresh water. However, it’s still energy intensive, making desalinated water expensive. Also, fossil fuels used for desalination contribute to climate change, which increases the water scarcity.

Therefore, this project focusses on using solar energy to power a desalination unit. The desalination unit is very energy efficient, yet on a small scale. Its designed for a minimum of maintenance through automation and using durable components. Real-time remote monitoring for operation is included and a local operator is trained to manage the system.

Project Results

The project involves a solar-powered seawater reverse osmosis plant. This technology gives them a reliable, independent, clean and affordable solution for fresh water supply.

In this project about 5 m3 per day are produced all year round.

The set-up provides fresh water through renewable energy for at least 20 years. It does not involve emissions by fossil-fuels, while conventional desalination does. By only making use of abundant resources, this location gained a sustainable solution for solving their fresh water scarcity.