The Goal of this project is to perfect a technology and develop a business model to produce drinkable water at prices competitive with existing sources, with favorable environmental impact while substantially increasing the total available amount of potable water.
Nearly two thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered by water over a thousand meters deep, yet it is not “potable” or useful for human consumption or in agriculture, as it contains minerals that are incompatible with human or agricultural uses. As demand increases, costs of distributing, increasingly inadequate supplies and the traditional methods of processing existing water supplies become prohibitively expensive. Droughts are becoming common and devastating while the cost of purifying water is increasingly prohibitive.
This proprietary invention consists of:
- A novel desalination technique which utilizes solar energy and an adaptation of existing “bubble pack” plastics
- A method of producing potable water that may be actively and directly marketed or licensed to existing industry
- Characterizations, development and deployment
THE MARKET
The size of the world market for desalinated water is difficult to determine but the following anecdotal references are indicative…
“…Over the 1990s there has been a major change in the role of the private sector in financing infrastructure, including water-related infrastructure, in developing countries. Starting from a very low base, the private sector has invested about $700 billion in infrastructure in developing countries over the past decade….”
[2004] “The World Commission on Water has estimated that investments in water infrastructure in developing countries need to increase from about $75 billion to about $180 billion a year over the next 25 years.” “…all countries face a major challenge in developing and maintaining an appropriate stock of water infrastructure. Framing this challenge is the reality that the costs of water infrastructure are rising rapidly in many countries. An analysis of World Bank repeater [Repaired or Replaced] water supply projects shows that the cost of bulk water for the future project is often two to three times greater than that for the previous one…” Reprinted From WATER RESOURCES SECTOR STRATEGY- STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS FOR WORLD BANK ENGAGEMENT
“Worldwide it is estimated that 154 billion liters of bottled water, generating revenues of £58bn [ $102 billion per year]”. Thursday June 29, 2006 by The Independent/UK
“Marin thirsty for desalination/ Officials say tapping the Bay could cost up to $100 million to build a 10 million gallon a day desal plant in Marin County, including construction of new pipelines’- Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer, Monday, December 30, 2002
COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES
The following outlines research efforts in the five primary alternative methods of Desalination at various stages of development.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Ion Exchange (IX)
The costs for IX and RO vary between …$1.9-$2.6/1000 gal at 220 gpm and $1.0-1.7/1000 gallons at 880 gpm. At the lower flow rate, operating costs account for ~70% of the total cost with regenerants, raw water, labor and maintenance making the most significant contributions. At 880 gpm, operating costs increase to ~80%.- Ion Exchange or Reverse Osmosis - Dow Chemical Technical Brief
Pond and Freeze systems
“This method, based on a highly concentrated salt solution at the bottom of the pond that absorbs sunlight and does not mix with the upper layer of the diluted water solution, suffers from many technical problems as well as from low heat efficiency.”…“Freeze technique was proven recently as an adequate technique for a high-capacity ice machine for large cooling and air-conditioning systems. ” –Reprinted from International Water Resources Association, Water International, Volume 25 number 1 Pages 54-65 March 2000, Desalination: Present and Future, by Raphael Semiat, Water Research Institute, Technion City, Haifa, Israel
Desalination versus Standing Water
At present, In the United States desalination plants can produce water for $1.0 per 1,000 gallons, compared with $.30 it costs to supply clean water from a river, lake or borehole. Droughts, Michael Allaby 1998, Facts on File
Opportunity
Water, Water all around and not a drop to Drink
Nearly two thirds of the surface of this planet is covered by nearly pure water over a thousand meters deep. How can these apparently contradictory statements both be true? The cost of purifying water adequately for most uses is prohibitive.
The current Secretary General of the United Nations indicated that in the near future, wars would be fought over not land, but water. Other incentives for water production include salt-water intrusion into aquifers in the central valley of California, burgeoning usage in the Los Angeles area, and continuous drought and threat of drought throughout much of the world. If one goes into any gas station in the country, one is almost certain to find drinking water available at about twice the price of the gas sold there. The fact that state subsidized water costs users far less than to private consumers shows further the increasing value of the previously common commodity.
