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Introduction

Research Justification

Nowadays, the availability of drinking and usable water is a significant global concern. As the analysis shows that oceans contain almost 97% of all water on the Earth, while freshwater makes only remaining small share (Renewable Energy Water Desalination Program 1). However, the amount of water available for the human consumption is even smaller; it is only 1% of the total water on the Earth because nearly 70% of freshwater is locked up in the ice and glaciers (Water-Energy Nexus 8). Such a situation remains critical since water is an essential component of the social, economic, and industrial development, and its demand is constantly increasing. In particular, Renewable Energy Water Desalination Program (9) predicts that by 2050, a global demand for safe water will increase by 55%. In addition, due to their geographical features, some countries face more issues with the freshwater deficit. For instance, countries located in the MENA region and California (the US) require higher amounts of usable water due to a hotter climate and the lack of natural resources of clean water. For instance, Gornall shows that almost all drinking water consumed in the UAE, is extracted from the sea. Moreover, Gonzalez et al. Argue that rapid population growth and economic development in the UAE challenge water resources capacities.

In this case, the water desalination becomes an appropriate solution for these territories. For instance, nowadays, 40% of water used in Abu Dhabi is desalinated; in such a manner, the desalination process provides almost all drinking water for the city (Energy Effective Desalination 12). Nevertheless, the water desalination is also associated with several concerns, which possess pressure on policymakers to develop the most effective solution.

Research Question. The research question consists of two parts. First, this paper aims at investigating conditions, under which desalination concerns can be overcome. Second, the paper focuses on discovering technological and management changes that should be implemented to improve the environmental and economic effect of the water desalination. In particular, a paper investigates desalination processes in two locations: the UAE (the Jebel Ali desalinization plant) and California (the Carlsbad California desalination plant).

Academic Field and Research Context. This project contributes to the multidisciplinary academic field of environmental studies, which focus on investigating the human interaction with the environment and providing solutions to multiple complex environmental issues. Hence, a research is conducted in the context of the global environmental emergency.

Summary of Methods, Data Collected, and General Conclusions. For the purpose of the paper, a descriptive case study was chosen as a research method. It allowed investigating a particular phenomenon of the water desalination conducted in two developed companies: the Jebel Ali desalinization plant and Carlsbad California desalination plant. Therefore, the type of a research method required a narrow focus on these two agents, and involved a detailed studying of particular cases.

In order to collect data for these cases, a list of quality resources was used. In particular, a paper utilized information provided by international research institutions: International Energy Agency and International Water Summit; local governmental institutions: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and San Diego Country Water Authority; private businesses, operating in the field of the water desalination: Poseidon Water and IDE Technologies.

In general, it was concluded that the water desalination was a beneficial process for territories that required significant amounts of water for consumption. However, there is a list of concerns, which prevent desalination from widespread use. In such a manner, concerns associated with the water desalination include economics issues, potential environmental effects, increase of environmental worries by local residents, high costs of producing desalinated water, and the high-energy intensity of production.

On the basis of the case analysis, the following recommendations were provided. First, it was recommended to implement the membrane capacitive electrodeionization, which would allow decreasing costs of the water treatment and improve its efficiency. Second, the paper provided evidence about the necessity to use solar energy in order to ensure the constant energy supply to plants.

Roadmap for the Document. In order to investigate a research question, the following steps were conducted. First, a paper includes a critical literature review that focuses on describing the types of the water desalination process and providing evidence to emerging concerns against its widespread implementation. Second, a context of the research is provided in order to clarify elements, which influenced the flow of the project. Next, a methodology part describes the research method, resources used to complete a project, the process of conducting research and describing collected data and its analysis process, and the influence of the project on the community. Furthermore, a detailed description of the collected data is provided. Next, a paper analyzes two cases of desalination plants, located in the UAE and California, and their comparison. Finally, a conclusion section includes the project justification, the author’s personal thoughts and reflections, and recommendations for policymakers, which were formulated on the basis of the data analysis.

LITERATURE RVIEW

The desalination is considered a solution for countries with limited freshwater resources. According to the explanation provided by the Water-Energy Nexus (10), the process of desalination is based on deducing the contents of total dissolved solids or salt and minerals in the ocean (sea) or brackish water. The desalination process can be divided into two main types, which are the most widely used by clean water producers. The first type is the thermal desalination, and the second type is the reverse osmosis.

The thermal desalination uses the evaporation process, which allows separating water from salt (Water-Energy Nexus 36). This process requires significant amounts of thermal energy, which is usually delivered by natural gas or electricity. Thermal desalination is divided into two technologies groups: multi-stage flash systems and multi-effect distillation technologies. For instance, the multi-effect distillation is a part of an integrated water-power plan with a combined-cycle, which allows optimizing this process.

Another type of the desalination process is the electric one, which is also called the membrane-based process. This type is based on using semi-permeable barriers, which allows filtering out dissolved solids. The primary technology of the electric desalination process is the reverse osmosis. In particular, the IDE Technologies, which is the global leading desalination agency, states that the reverse osmosis is based on multiple processes, which can be chosen depending on a variety of factors, for example, the quality of source water, the desired quantity and quality of produced water, pretreatment, energy requirements, and disposal of the concentrate. Overall, the reverse osmosis technology uses electric pumps, which push water through the membrane, thus removing salt from it (Water-Energy Nexus 35). Hence, reverse osmosis allows removing molecules and ions from salt water, thus making it suitable both for industrial and personal consumption.

Nowadays, the reverse osmosis is more popular than the thermal desalination; due to technological improvements, it allowed decreasing the energy intensity and cut costs of the water production. For instance, according to the report provided by the Water-Energy Nexus (35), reverse osmosis membranes were installed at almost 65% of global desalination plants.

However, regarding the wide opportunities offered by the water desalination, this process still is not widely used in the global market. Such inhibition of this technology expansion can be explained by several concerns associated with the water desalination. In general, there are several environmental issues of producing clean water. In their turn, these issues lead to the development of community concerns about the potentially negative influence of desalination plants on the environment, which causes protests of local citizens interested in preserving local ocean ecosystems. In addition, the water desalination requires comparatively high expenses and significant energy intensity, as well as produces high carbon emissions, which also restrict it from the rapid expansion. These concerns will be further investigated.

In addition, there are also other less popular desalination technologies. In such a manner, the charge-based separation is considered an alternative solution to existent popular ones. This desalination type covers two major technologies: electrodialysis/electrodialysis reversal and membrane capacitive deionization (Koseoglu-Imer & Karagunduz). Electrodialysis/ electrodialysis reversals are comparatively more beneficial than the reverse osmosis type since they require less energy and provide higher rates of recovery. However, these technologies are implemented only for industrial use, and cannot be used for drinking water. In its turn, the membrane capacitive deionization is also commercially available and similarly to the previous two technologies is less energy intensive as compared with the reverse osmosis and thermal desalination. In addition, this technology is optimized for drinking water; therefore, it can be considered a promising alternative solution to widely used desalination types.

Environmental Effects of Desalination. Desalination is associated with several adverse environmental effects, which prevent the technology from the rapid and widespread use. For instance, the desalination produces significant CO2 emissions, which are harmful to the atmosphere. As the fig. 1 illustrates, it is expected that the amount of CO2 emissions in Abu Dhabi will continue to increase due to the intensification of desalination processes. According to the calculations provided by the Energy Effective Desalination (2), until 2040, the annual volume of CO2 emissions provided by desalination processes will increase from 76 million tons in 2016 to 218 million tons. Such a significant increase can be explained by the estimated intensification of the desalination process in Abu Dhabi that requires more plants to meet its water demands.

Figure 1. Global carbon dioxide emissions due to desalination (Energy Effective Desalination 2).

Furthermore, the environmental influence of desalination facilities includes the impingement and entrainment of marine organisms (Missimer & Maliva 211). In such a manner, the use of sea and ocean water in order to make it appropriate for industrial and consumer use may cause a reduction in fish, invertebrates, and ichthyoplankton. Similarly, Kress and Galil (176) also argue that the intake of seawater affects the marine environment. In particular, researchers divide the possible influence of water desalination plants on ecosystems into three categories. The first category includes the entrainment and impingement of marine organisms because their natural habitat (seawater) is moved to plant’s facilities. The second category of negative environmental factors considers the constant release of byproducts of the desalination process, such as the brine effluent. Third, the use of chemicals and the water desalination could negatively affect the coastal environment. In particular, Mohammedi et al. (147) prove that one of the most dangerous irreversible processes of the water desolation is the Multi-Stage Flash. According to the authors, this technology causes the highest destruction of the environment as compared to other water treatment processes. In particular, currently, countries in the Gulf region face high levels of urbanization and the continuously growing population, which raises the demand for clean water. In its turn, with the increase in demand for freshwater, the energy consumption also increases, thus resulting in multiple negative effects, including higher CO2 emissions and increased level of chemicals released to the environment.

Environmental concerns Expressed by Local Residents. In addition to the negative influence, which may be caused by the water desolation process, concerns expressed by local citizens prevent the global use of desolation technologies. On the one hand, these concerns are supported by a significant evidence base that proves the potential environmental pollution by desolation plants. Among the most intensive concerns, researchers highlight a concern about the influence on the local marine ecosystems (Heck et al. 25). Hence, according to findings of the survey by Heck et al. (25), a concern about the quality of ocean/seawater was the primary issue, followed by the concern of the effect on biological features. Besides, a significant share of local residents is also usually concerned about marine activities, which might be affected by the plant construction. For instance, these activities include fishing and recreation, for example. In the case of the Arabian Gulf countries, public concerns may appear due to heavy tanker traffic (Paleologos et al. 3) and contamination of the seawater by hydrocarbon operations. In addition, the heavy tanker traffic boosts the risk of accidents with oil transportation, which pollutes water in its turn. Therefore, residents might resist the idea of building a new plant near their recreation facilities and other nearby locations.

A level of barriers caused by the citizens’ opposition can be illustrated by the example of the water project in the County of San Diego. This project has faced a huge opposition since the date of its proposal in 1998 (Water Technology). In general, the opposition was caused by concerns of residents related to the energy, marine, and climate effect of the new plant. For instance, public representatives are against the withdrawal of 300 million gallons of seawater per day for the desalination plant. Nevertheless, later, the plant owners received an approval from the California Superior Court to construct a plant in 2011.

In such a manner, the lack of trust and poor public attitudes reduce the public support of the overall technology in the water supply industry. In this case, researchers recommend enhancing community engagement by ensuring the two-way communication between the company and local citizens (Heck et al. 27). This step will allow ensuring a more direct communication with the public, increasing organizational trust, and thus gaining its support for the seawater desalination.

High Cost. Sood and Smakhtin agree that water desalination provides both positive and negative outcomes. In particular, the costs involved into the water treatment process appear to be one of the most significant challenges. Similarly, Wilder et al. Argue that water desalination is usually seen as a low-priority strategy for increasing water security. In addition to environmental concerns, the process of the water desolation also requires significant costs. The level of costs depend on the quality of desalinate water (Cooley & Ajami). For instance, according to Mr. Mills, a recycling and desalination chief in the Department of Water Resources, the ocean water treatment requires more finance as compared to the brackish water treatment due to significant differences in dissolved solids. For instance, the brackish water contains only 1,000–3,000 milligrams of total dissolved solids, while the ocean water contains 30,000–35,000 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids, thus requiring much higher costs.

Indeed, the cost of water treatment also depends on the technology used during the desalination process and, therefore, on the volume of energy required to conduct desalination. For instance, in the UAE, the thermal plants account to almost 83% of total desalination capacities, and due to significant energy requirements, they consume 3.5 times more energy for each water gallon produces than the reverse osmosis plants do (Renewable Energy Water Desalination Program 5). Moreover, during winter, the majority of plants usually operate under their optimal capacities, which is explained by the wide deployment of integrated water and energy production, thus leading to seasonal variations (Renewable Energy Water Desalination Program 5). Therefore, significant improvements are comparatively high.

Energy Intensity. Regarding significant technological improvements, the water desalination process still requires significant energy supplies. The amount of the required energy varies depending on a range of factors, such as topography, distance, water loss and inefficiencies, and the level of the necessary treatment (See Figure 2).

Figure 2. The energy use for various processes in the water sector (Water-Energy Nexus 28)

Researchers agree that the desalination process is the most energy-intensive process. As the Water-Energy Nexus (36) reported, while providing only 0.7% of the global demand for safe water, desalination processes correspond with almost 25% of the total energy consumption in the water sector. Similarly to the CO2 emission projections, it is expected that by 2040, the share of desalinated water will increase to 4% of global needs. However, due to the high energy intensity of its processes, the water desalination will require almost 60% of the global energy consumption in the water sector (Water-Energy Nexus 6). In particular, it is expected that the share of electricity consumption of water desalination processes will increase from 5% in 2014 to 20% in 2040 (See Figure 3). Such an increase in electricity consumption is based on the fact that different technologies of the desalination process require a lot of fuel and electricity (See Figure 2).

Figure 3. Electricity consumption in the water sector by the process, 2014-2040 (Water-Energy Nexus 38).

In addition, it should be noted that electricity provides a comparatively small share of energy required for the water desalination processes. According to the Water-Energy Nexus (37) calculations, the share of electricity in the total energy consumption for thermal desalination accounts for about 15%, while the remaining part is provided by natural gas. Besides, Water-Energy Nexus (37) also reported that the brackish water desalination is considered the least energy-intensive processes as compared to the seawater desalination, which requires higher levels of the energy input. For instance, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consumes about 50% of the global energy use for desalination, followed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait (See Figure 4). Such energy intensity can be explained by the fact that the UAE mainly uses seawater as the input for their water desalination processes.

In addition, high amounts of the required energy for the UAE water desalination can also be explained by the implementation of the technology of energy-intensive processes of desalination, which mainly use oil and natural gas for the thermal-based desalination or for creating electricity for membrane-based technological processes. In addition, Water-Energy Nexus also estimates a continuous increase in the use of seawater in countries of the MENA region (the Middle East and North Africa). In particular, it is estimated that by 2040, these countries will consume 13 times more desalinated seawater as compared to 2014 Water-Energy Nexus (51).

Figure 4. Energy demand for the desalination and re-use, 2014 (Water-Energy Nexus 37).

CONTEXT

The context of the study relates to the global environmental emergency since concerns about the available amount of safe water become more intense with the rapid development of the global economy. In general, the problem of the small amount of water for consumption can be solved by implementing several strategies. A first strategy assumes a shortage in water consumption, based on the principle of avoiding the overuse. For instance, this strategy is based on increasing people’s awareness about the necessity to save water by twisting cranes, avoiding water pollution, and increasing the rationality of using water sources. The second strategy is based on creating reservoirs with water for consumption. This strategy presupposes improvements in the water treatment technology, which will ensure that water in reservoirs will stay clean and safe. Finally, a process of removing salt from water is considered the most effective strategy with a higher potential of meeting a growing demand for clean water.

In such a manner, countries located in regions with the low availability of safe water could significantly benefit from the third strategy if it is appropriately implemented. In this case, countries with limited freshwater will be able to fill a gap between the withdrawals of clean water and its sustainable supply. For instance, nowadays, a share of desalinated seawater in the total water consumption of Abu Dhabi accounts for 31% (Renewable Energy Water Desalination Program 5). In addition, it continuously becomes a major source of drinking water. In general, it is estimated that the Middle East countries will continue to increase their desalination capacities in the future (Water-Energy Nexus 6). Therefore, a critical evaluation of existing capacities and comparison with other outstanding examples will allow developing proper recommendations for the UAE regarding improvements of its desalination policy.

Due to the high importance of this problem to the sustainable global social and economic development, multiple researchers have investigated different aspects of this field (Evans; Gonzalez et al.; Gornall; Gude). On the one hand, international organizations, such as International Energy Agency and International Water Summit, started not only to evaluate the current global desalination capacities and related energy use but also to create own models for estimating changes in this area. They provide a significant evidence base for policymakers considering any improvements in the current state of the water desalination industry.

Hence, in order to investigate research questions, a project was conducted with the use of the available Internet sources with the free public access. On the one hand, it allowed discovering evidence for multiple concerns, restricting a rapid expansion of the water desalination technologies over the world. On the other hand, the analysis of capacities and technologies, implemented in the Jebel Ali desalinization plant and Carlsbad California desalination plant allowed defining differences between these plants and ways of further improvement.

It should be noted that due to the lack of experience in the water desalination industry, researchers could miss some aspects of research fields, which could affect project results. In addition, the analysis of the efficiency of desalination plants also lacks the insider information, which is not publicly available. Therefore, conclusions were made based on available data on plants’ capacities and their technological features. Nevertheless, recommendations for further research will allow eliminating these issues.

METODS

Research Method. A case study analysis was chosen as a research method for this project. Due to the purpose of the paper, a descriptive case study analysis was conducted. The main advantage of using a case study as a research method is that it allows focusing on specific cases. Therefore, two cases were chosen for the research analysis: a case of the Jebel Ali desalinization plant and a case of Carlsbad California desalination plant. This step allowed critically evaluating one of the most famous desalination plants and comparing their strategies and approaches to the water desalination. Thereby, it allowed investigating conditions, under which desalination concerns could be overcome, and discovering technological and management changes that should be implemented to mitigate the environmental and economic impact of the water desalination.

Resources. In order to implement a case study method, a range of resources was used. The first type of resources applied to its research includes the scholarly literature and surveys of international research companies closely related to the field of study. The second type of resources used includes corporate websites and annual reports of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, San Diego Country Water Authority; and Poseidon Water (the owner of the Carlsbad California desalination plant). These sources allowed discovering the major characteristics of the chosen desalination plants, and thus comparing their efficiency. In addition, in order to develop recommendations regarding the elimination of desalination concerns, a range of research studies was utilized. All resources were available online and were provided with free access for users (in such a manner, no fees for downloading reports or registration requirements were charged). Therefore, all sources, cited in this report, can be easily accessed by other researchers.

Research Process. The research process included the following phases. First, a literature review on a chosen field of study was conducted. It allowed discovering the major players in the desalination market and thus choosing plants for the case study analyses. At the next stage, a deeper literature review was conducted in order to collect evidence about the existing concerns associated with the water desalination process. On the basis of this literature review, data and other appropriate information were collected for two plants separately. Further, a comparison of two plants was conducted; it was followed by the next stage, namely the formulation of recommendations for policy-makers. These recommendations were created based on the collected evidence, as well as recommendations provided by other international research agencies.

Data. Data for this project are limited to the available information of chosen plants. Hereby, it mainly covers the general information about plants’ capacities, production, and total cost of their development. Due to the lack of statistical data on the plants’ efficiency, a major focus was made on the comparison of technologies implemented at plants.

The data analysis Process. The data analysis process included the following steps. First, an outline for the plant’s analysis was created. It allowed ensuring that plants will be compared by similar criteria. Second, a description of each plant was provided according to the created outline. Further, key points from each section of analyses were formulated. In such a manner, a comparison of two different water desalination plants became possible. Next, these key points were compared to the chosen plant, and a conclusion was formulated. In particular, a case study conclusion was developed in response to the latest research findings, which ensured the appropriateness of this project results in similar cases.

Research Contribution. Research contributes to the academic field of environmental studies by providing evidence of the comparative efficiency of two water desalination plants: the Jebel Ali desalination plant, located in the UAE, and the Carlsbad California desalination plant, located in the US. Based on their comparative analyses, a set of recommendations for policy-makers was created. These recommendations focused on conditions, under which desalination concerns could be overcome, and the strategy of implementing technological and management changes for the improvement of the environmental and economic influence of the water desalination. Overall, research provided evidence about the necessity to focus on the deionization of seawater as the most beneficial solution to water desalination concerns. In addition, the use of solar radiation was also recommended as an alternative energy source for generating energy for thermal and reverse osmosis processes.

CASE STUDIES ANALYSIS

Jebel Ali Desalinization Plant. The Jebel Ali desalinization plant was opened in 2013, and is located in the UAE. This plant was developed under the initiative of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. The Jebel Ali desalinization plant based on the M-Station, which provides two types of processes: electricity generation and water desalination (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority 2017b). The Jebel Ali desalinization plant uses Sea Water Reverse Osmosis technology.

Nowadays, the Jebel Ali desalinization plant is the biggest desalination plant in the UAE (“Jebel Ali M-Station”), with installed capacity of 145 million imperial gallons per day in 2017 (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority 2017a, 6). In particular, according to the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (2017a, 6) report, the desalination plant capacities can be divided by the following parts: Jebel Ali R.O. Desalination Plant – 25 Million Imperial Gallons per Day; Jebel Ali Power and Desalination Station D – 35 Million Imperial Gallons per Day; Jebel Ali Power and Desalination Station E – 25 Million Imperial Gallons per Day; and Jebel Ali Power and Desalination Station G – 60 Million Imperial Gallons per Day. Besides that, the plat power generation capacities are equal to 2,461MW. In particular, its stations have the following capacities: Jebel Ali Power and Desalination Station D – 1,027 MW; Jebel Ali Power and Desalination Station E – 616 MW; and Jebel Ali Power and Desalination Station G – 818 MW (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority 2017a, 6). Moreover, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority is planning to expand these facilities by adding new generating capacity of 700MW (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority 2017b). A new project of the Jebel Ali desalinization plant expansion includes the following additional elements: two dual-fuel gas turbine generators; two heat recovery steam boilers; and one steam turbine with 90% of fuel efficiency (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority 2017b). Experts estimate that an expansion of plant will allow increasing the efficiency it of thermal processed from 82.4% of current efficiency to 85.8% (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority 2017b), thereby making it one of the most efficient desalination plants with thermal processes in the world. A new plant, which the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority is planning to develop in Jebel Ali, will cost up to $217.8 million (Saleh). Since it will also be based on the reverse osmosis technology, it will allow saving energy during the process of removing salt from water. Moreover, according to the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, new plant facilities will be based on a higher share of clean energy, used in the water treatment. Thus, instead of current 5%, it is expected to achieve 41% of clean energy in the desalination process by 2030 (Saleh).

Consequently, Jebel Ali desalinization plant is one of the largest plants in the world, based on the reverse osmosis technology. A plant was developed under the government initiative and is supervised by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. A plant includes both power generation facilities and facilities for water desolation. Currently, its capacities account for 145 million imperial gallons per day and 2,461MW. Moreover, in the near future the plant will expand its capacities and increase the share of clean energy in its power generation processes.

Carlsbad California Desalination Plant. The Carlsbad desalination plant is located in San Diego County, California US. This plant is considered the largest desalination plant on the West Coast (Water Technology). This plant is privately owned and totally financed by the Poseidon Resources Corporation. Similarly with the Jebel Ali desalinization plant the Carlsbad desalination plant uses a reverse osmosis technology, which was designed by the IDE Technologies.

A plant uses ocean water to desalinate water. It filtration process is based on the sand/anthracite filtration, which removes suspended parties from the water. On the next stage, a salt is removed from the water due to pumping through the reverse osmosis membranes. Regarding a fact that a power plant was also developed for the Carlsbad desalination plant, it was not in use and is planned to be demolished. Therefore, currently, the Carlsbad desalination plant includes the following elements: reverse osmosis system, chemical storage and pumps for water treatment and product water.

Its current capacities account for 50 million gallons per day (Poseidon Water 21), which is almost three times lower than the Jebel Ali desalinization plant capacities. Nevertheless, there are also options for potential increase in plant’s capacities, based on the membrane technology advances. In particular, installation of new technologies with minimal plant improvements will allow increasing its capacity to 60 million gallons per day (Poseidon Water 21). Besides that, the purchase price for desalinated water will range from $2,302 to $2,559 per acre-foot, depending on the purchasing volume (San Diego Country Water Authority).

Consequently, the Carlsbad desalination plant uses similar reverse osmosis technology, as the Jebel Ali desalinization plant does. Regarding a fact that the Carlsbad desalination plant is considered to be the largest desalination plant on the on the West Coast, its total capacities are almost three times lower than the capacities of the Jebel Ali desalinization plant – 50 million gallons per day versus 145 million imperial gallons per day. Moreover, unlike the UAE plant, the California facilities do not include a power generation facilities, which restrict the plant from further energy improvements.

Solutions. A possible solution to improving the efficiency of the water desalination plants is to use innovative technologies in their processes. In particular, instead of using the reverse osmosis and thermal desalination processes, it is recommended to pay attention to the electrodeionization (Hassanvand et al.). The membrane capacitive electrodeionization is one of the four electromembrane desalination processes, which also include the electrodialysis, capacitive deionization, reverse electrodialysis, and electrodialysis with bipolar membranes (Koseoglu-Imer & Karagunduz). This desalination system is driven by an external voltage and includes two stages: the first stage is the electrosorption of ions onto the electrodes, while the second stage is the desorption of ions to ‘clean’ the electrode surface (Boden & Subban). Researchers provide evidence that the membrane capacitive deionization is more beneficial as compared to the reverse osmosis due to higher recovery rates – 80%-95% versus only up to 80% (Boden & Subban). In addition, membrane capacitive electrodeionization has the potential to become cheaper than the reverse osmosis technology in providing the treatment of brackish waters (Pan et al.). Therefore, a membrane capacitive electrodeionization can be considered as an alternative solution to water desalination process. Besides that, multiple studies suggest about the necessity to use renewable energy sources to improving capacities of water desalination plants. For instance, Serna et al. Provide evidence for installing wind and wave energy into the reverse osmosis plant. In addition, California and countries located in the MENA region have opportunities of using solar radiation for generating additional electricity that is necessary for ensuring current desalination processes. In particular, there is a significant level of direct sun light in MENA countries, with a close distance of open deserts to major urban centers. As Water-Energy Nexus (51) reported, a shift from the reliance on fossil fuels (direct for thermal processes and indirect for generating electricity for reverse osmosis processes) can be conducted towards carbon-free energy sources by concentrating solar power. This solution provides several benefits for a country. First, it allows reducing CO2 emissions, as well as other local air pollutants, thus improving the overall environmental image of desalination plants. Indeed, the use of solar energy allows connecting it with the effective storage systems.

However, it also should be considered that nowadays the cost of water desalinated with the concentrating solar power is almost three times higher, comparing with the cost of membrane-based reverse osmosis or multi-effect distillation conducted by the natural fuels (gas or oil) (“Making Freshwater from the Sun”). One of the scenarios under which the solar energy can become widely available assumes that if electricity subsidies and fossil fuel become completely phased out, the water produced with the concentrated solar power will become cost competitive. However, even the cost for producing with solar energy will fall by 50% by the next 25 years, while the traditional technologies continue staying popular and cost effective, the price for producing water with the solar radiation will still be 60% higher than for subsidiaries (“Making Freshwater from the Sun”). Therefore, currently there are no large-scale plants using concentrated solar power. Nevertheless, it is expected that in the near future appropriate technologies will appear, which will require companies to quickly react on new market trends.

CONCLUSION

Project Importance. This project contributes to the field of investigating the process of water desalination and provides recommendations focused on overcoming existent desalination concerns and implementing new technological improvements into the desalination processes. Firstly, it is recommended to pay a close attention at the membrane capacitive electrodeionization. Project provides evidence that this step will allow decreasing a volume of energy consumption and, therefore, decrease a negative impact of CO2 emissions. Besides that, a decrease in energy consumption will also allow saving significant production costs, thereby making treated water more available for users.

Secondly, it is recommended to use solar radiation to enhance power generation capacities. Since the Carlsbad desalination plant does not currently have power generation capacities, their development can be evaluated in order to enhance the efficiency of plant processes. Further, in the case of Jebel Ali desalinization plant, which has already developed energy capacities, it could be recommended to increase the share of solar energy in total energy production. Therefore, this step will enhance company’s capacities and also allow decreasing the cost of water treatment.

Limitations. The major limitation of this research appeared due to the absence of necessary data for the analysis. In particular, information, which could be used to compare chosen water desalination plants and calculating their efficiency properly, was not available for public use. In addition, a research bias might appear and result in inappropriate data interpretation, which would affect the findings of the entire research. In addition, a sample bias might also occur. This bias was based on choosing two plants, the experience of which might significantly differ from experiences of other similar plants. Therefore, findings generated for chosen plants may not be appropriate for other water desalination projects.

Recommendations for Future Projects. Future research projects could eliminate current research limitations. In particular, according to the given research findings, a quantitative data analysis can be developed. Future quantitative research could focus on processes at several water desalination plants. These plants should be located in areas with similar climate conditions, which will allow properly comparing them.