Socioecology Research Today

A capacitive deionization process utilizing flow-electrodes (FCDI) was designed and evaluated for use in seawater desalination. The FCDI cell exhibited excellent removal efficiency (95%) with respect to an aqueous NaCl solution (salt concentration: 32.1 g L−1), demonstrating that the FCDI process could effectively overcome the limitations of typical CDI processes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C3EE24443A

World Health Energy Holdings announced today that it has begun testing its system for water purification.The total global market for water treatment services and products in 2003 is estimated to have been over $300 billion. The initial testing is utilizing water with a 2% salinity 20,000 ml per liter and using the WHEN algae systems [...]

While much of the desalination activity in the U.S is concentrated in southern and western states, the last decade has seen an unlikely location emerge for desalination — the Northeast. With precipitation often exceeding evapotranspiration, the Northeast generally maintains abundant surface and ground water resources that are readily available for human and ecological use. However, [...]

A small-scale experimental device for solar chimneys integrated with sea water desalination (abbreviated in integrated system) has been set up. Its performance has been studied based on the practical weather condition. The experimental results show that the integrated system can achieve simultaneously the multi-targeted production indeed, such as power and freshwater. The main period of [...]

A World Bank sponsored project to restore water levels in the Dead Sea while also providing desalinated water and hydropower to the region received a final environmental approval and construction is slated to begin in June. Final Report (pdf)

Ash Shuqayq (Saudi Red Sea coast) is approximately 28 km long and characterised by narrow rocky headlands with intermittent pocket beaches. Fifty-two sediment samples from six different environments (beach, dune, sabkha, tidal/lagoon, offshore and wadi) were analysed. Testing showed that beach and dune sands are mainly medium to fine grained, with some very coarse sand [...]

The present paper presents a review for the work that has been achieved during the recent years in the field of desalination by renewable energies, with emphasis on technologies and economics. The review also includes water sources, demand, availability of potable water and purification methods. A comparative study between different renewable energy technologies powered desalination [...]

In this study, we compare three desalination based alternatives for water supply in off-grid areas, and assess their environmental footprint. The three options are: (a) a solar still, (b) a photo-voltaic (PV) powered reverse osmosis (RO) unit, and (c) water delivery by truck from a central RO plant. By use of life-cycle analysis (LCA), a [...]

Microbubbles (MBs) have been known for their ability to generate pressure waves through shrinking and subsequent self-collapsing phenomenon. In the present study, we have investigated the potential of air MBs for biofilm detachment from a nylon membrane surface in comparison to chemical cleaning by sodium hypochloride (NaOCl). About 88% of fixed biomass detachment was observed [...]

This paper presents a review of developing antifouling RO membranes in recent years, including the selection of new starting monomers, improvement of interfacial polymerization process, surface modification of conventional RO membrane by physical and chemical methods as well as the hybrid organic/inorganic RO membrane. The review of research progress in this article may provide an [...]