8 Challenges Seawater Desalination Equipment Market Are Facing Today

The seawater desalination market is growing at an impressive rate and will be a market worth USD 35.5 billion by 2031 according to some estimates. However, the road is not going to be smooth for desalination equipment companies and enterprises working with desalination projects.

Marine desalination equipment and technologies have come a long way from their primitive stages. Now large-scale desalination plants have enough output capacity to keep cities running. 

The largest desalination plant in Saudi Arabia’s al-Jubail produces more than 1.4 million cubic meters of water every day. Many plants now have impressive output capacities, and desalination is a full-fledged industry with key market players trying to dominate the sector.

The need for desalination is ever increasing. Apart from regions with water scarcity, many industries also use desalination technologies to process industrial wastewater. With water levels going down in different parts of the world and increased urbanization driving the demand for clean, potable water, desalination promises an antidote to all water scarcity problems.

To reach its fullest potential, the water desalination equipment market will have to overcome several challenges. Growth in technology is making distant dreams appear closer and closer. 

Desalination industry challenges and hurdles

There are many arguments in favor of a growing desalination industry over the next decade and more. At the same time, there are many arguments against the same assertion. Today we will focus on eight key challenges that the desalination industry will face over the next decade.

The existence of challenges does not imply a failure of the market in any way. Many of these hurdles will be overcome with advanced technology, while others will be resolved through agreements between governments and private firms. Without wasting more time, let’s find out the 8 challenges lying in front of the desalination industry. 

1. The challenge of energy supply

Energy is scarce in today’s world, and there is a global drive to bring alternative power sources to the mainstream. Like many other industrial ventures, the seawater desalination industry is also facing an energy supply problem.

Of the three most common techniques for desalination plants, reverse osmosis (RO) consumes the least amount of energy. Despite that, it still accounts for up to 40% of total operating costs. Other methods like multi-level flash and multi-effect distillation consume even more energy. It is one of the most important challenges for the desalination industry to overcome.

Solar-powered desalination plants are coming up as the most viable alternative to deal with energy scarcity problems. Some plants have shown how effective solar-powered plants can be. 

Siemens Austria established the first solar power run desalination plant in the world, and it has been a stellar success. The plant routinely produces surplus electricity that is then transferred to the public grid for domestic supply. If other companies follow suit, solar power can solve the problem of energy scarcity for the desalination industry.

Cogeneration plants also work effectively to reduce the use of fossil fuels. In these plants, waste energy from a power plant is used to power marine desalination equipment. It lowers the energy requirement of the plant and also gives the power plant additional revenue. Coupled with alternative energy sources, cogeneration plants can solve the problem of energy supply. 

2. Environmental impact of desalination

Desalination comes at an environmental cost. Manipulating with huge quantities of seawater is bound to cause problems for the marine ecosystem. On the other hand, burning fossil fuel for energy supply also contributes greatly to global warming and climate change. Desalination plants can easily throw a country off track in its carbon emission goals and cause substantial damage to flora and fauna.

The problem of total dissolved solids (TDS) remains pertinent despite technological innovation. Reverse osmosis plants create high TDS concentrates (>65,000 mg/L) which then creates a problem of disposal. With the prevalence of RO plants, the problem of TDS has also increased.

Waste disposal is a major problem for desalination plants, and it is difficult to figure a way out with the present technology. With developments in seawater desalination equipment, this problem can be taken care of in the future. Present plants are focusing on disposing of waste in a safe and eco-friendly manner. 

3. Membrane performance and efficiency

All desalination techniques use some form of membranes to filter saltwater and produce potable water. The problem with present technologies is that the membrane performance is not enough to continue operations efficiently. Reverse osmosis plants operate with pressures between 60 bars and 70 bars. The aim is to reduce pressure while maintaining saltwater filtration capacity. Lower pressure means a higher concentration of salt in the purified water. That makes it impossible for plants to operate with lower pressures since that would render the purpose of the plant void.

If technological innovation continues in the right direction for desalination equipment industries, we can expect RO plants with pressure requirements between 50 to 55 bars. That would mean a dramatic increase in performance compared to the present methods. If pressure requirements can go further down, the problem of membrane performance would be solved permanently.

There has been considerable growth in desalination equipment technology over the past few years. However, there is still a wide scope for growth. If manufacturers and engineers can address the gaps and come up with more efficient membranes, desalination plants would function much more effectively than they do now. 

4. Lack of internationally competitive, industry-leading enterprises

Few firms dominate the global desalination industry. However, there hasn’t been any groundbreaking progress in the desalination industry that can establish one or more firms as industry leaders. While that encourages competition and promotes participation, it causes deficiency in the areas of research and development. We can understand this point better if we draw an analogy from the tech market.

The big 4 of the tech industry lead the industry in terms of cutting-edge technology. While they also dominate the market share, they invest heavily into research and development simultaneously. Though the motivation behind this is to stay on top of the competition, the benefits trickle down to other smaller tech firms and companies. Once the technology is out in the open, anyone can use it to improve on previous products and services.

A few companies leading the desalination industry space are Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co Ltd., ACCIONA, Veolia Company, Cytec Solvay Group, Suez SA, IDE Technologies Ltd., BASF SE Company, Xylem, If a few of them emerge to be industry leaders, the entire market will benefit from heavy funding into research and development. With the market still far from its maturity, we can expect industry leaders to emerge over the next decade. 

5. Inadequate scientific and standardized supervision of the market

All industries need a scientific standard to grow and prosper. Without guidelines determining different aspects of the process, there are conflicts at various stages and processes become much more time-consuming. The desalination market suffers from this inadequacy since there are no industry standards yet.

The problem is especially acute in the case of desalination equipment manufacturing plants. Low-quality equipment like cheap industrial piping can hamper progress in the field. In the absence of supervisory bodies and regulations, many plants resort to cheap materials to cut costs.

Some companies, like Glen Engineering, take this challenge head-on and commit to manufacturing the best industrial equipment for desalination plants and other industrial projects. Check out their website to see their areas of excellence and how they are shaping the future of industrial manufacturing.

If desalination equipment manufacturers come together to formulate a set of standards, the problem of low-quality equipment and tools will be resolved. However, that would need considerable cooperation from a diverse set of companies. 

With cross-border collaborations becoming more common than ever, we can expect a functional set of guidelines for desalination equipment manufacturers in the future. 

6. Conflicting global parameters of potable water

The conflict in parameters of potable water is more of a regulatory problem than a problem of the industry itself. A glaring example is how the European Union and the World Health Organization determine the level of boron permissible in potable water. While the European Union has set the bar at 1.0mg/L, the World Health Organization fixes it at 05mg/L.

While the scientific consensus is still under debate, it is a problem for desalination plants supplying water for domestic consumption. Reverse osmosis plants can reach the European Union levels with a single pass. The same plant would require at least two passes to reach World Health Organization levels. It puts additional pressure on the plants and also leads to confusion regarding what concentration is permissible.

These conflicts exist beyond boron concentration in drinking water. While there is very little for desalination plants to do to solve this problem, international regulatory bodies coming to a consensus will end this issue. Like many other areas where governmental bodies can help boost the market, setting agreed-upon parameters will also make operations much easier for desalination plants. 

7. Change in seawater

One of the many negative effects of climate change has been a rapid change in seawater conditions. Many other factors also contribute to it, such as leakages, overfishing, offshore mining, and more. It puts pressure on desalination plants since they are designed with a specific seawater condition in mind.

A specific example would be the sudden growth of algae in seawater. There is nothing that desalination plants can do to prevent algae growth without harming the entire marine ecosystem. 

One possible alternative is using stand-by dissolved-air-flotation (DAF) systems. However, these systems are very expensive and do not make financial sense in small-scale plants that do not operate 365 days.

Changing seawater conditions is one of the many natural factors affecting desalination projects around the world. 

There are two ways to deal with this problem. One involves developing better seawater desalination equipment that can operate through different seawater conditions. Another option is to ensure seawater health through careful monitoring and careful intervention. Both options are unfeasible by modern standards, but might be possible in the future.

Changing seawater conditions might be one problem that the desalination industry will never solve. However, they can design workarounds that keep plants operational despite changing water conditions. 

8. Inadequacy of national and international policy support

The two most common ownership models for desalination plants are BOT (build-operate-transfer) and BOO (build-operate-own). While the BOO model gives ownership to private firms, governments retain ownership in BOT models. However, both models need substantial aid from the government due to high installation and operation costs.

Many countries are already addressing this problem with subsidies and compensations for desalination firms. 

In Japan, for example, desalination plants get subsidies for all their operational expenses. Countries like Israel have also given considerable aid to desalination plants. However, there would not be exponential growth in the sector unless more governments support desalination plants.

Apart from financial aids, governments also play a key role in giving permission to private firms to set up desalination firms. In countries with complex bureaucracy, the process can take a very long time and firms might lose interest by the time they get the nod from the government. It is a major reason desalination plants are only widespread in economically prosperous and politically stable countries. If governmental policies ease the process of setting up desalination plants, the sector will grow at an unprecedented rate.

If governments proactively engage with desalination projects, they can set up policies and frameworks that support desalination projects. With growing global political stability, the chances of governments coming up with better policies are high. 

Conclusion

Water desalination is a key industry for the sustenance of humankind. Unfortunately, the sector does not get the attention it deserves from both governments and key market players. Collaborations and projects are slowly changing the scenario, and more governments are now looking into desalination projects.

Like many other industries, water desalination equipment companies have limited scope and reach. However, there is immense potential for growth within this restricted playing field. The challenges that we discussed are neither impenetrable nor unresolvable. With continued efforts from engineers, entrepreneurs, and governments, these challenges will no longer be an impediment over the next decade.

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