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Desalination, a strategic resource to solve the water crisis

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David Escobar Gutiérrez
Partner of Smart Water Magazine.

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  • Desalination, strategic resource to solve the water crisis
    IDA Board of Directors Term 20, IDA Sydney World Congress 2022. Credit: IDA

Water scarcity is an increasingly pressing problem worldwide due to unstoppable demographic growth, the exodus of the population to large cities and the ever-present effects of climate change. In many regions, the demand for water far exceeds the available supply, forcing the adoption of new strategies to address this water crisis. In this scenario, desalination and water reuse are two options increasingly used to continue reducing the gap in access to safe drinking water, in compliance with Sustainable Development Goal 6.

Seawater desalination has undergone significant developments in recent years. Research and innovation have made it possible to reduce its environmental impact, increase its efficiency in energy use and reduce the cost of producing desalinated water, making it a real alternative for tackling this crisis.

Currently, the use of renewable energies for the production of desalinated water and the digital transformation of all processes offer more possibilities to position desalination as a competitive option compared to other sources of the resource.

In this year’s first issue of Smart Water Magazine Bimonthly we wanted to analyse the importance of this strategic resource from all facets and first-hand from the key players in this field. In the following pages, you will be able to learn more about the potential environmental impact of brine in the Arabian Gulf, emerging technologies such as floating desalination or ceramic desalination, the latest advances in membrane technologies and their implications for desalination, the use of digital twins for the operation of desalination plants, the success story of the Arucas-Moya desalination plant in the Canary Islands, Spain, or about the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project in California, USA.

But if there is a world reference organisation in desalination, it is the International Desalination Association. In the year that the Association celebrates its 50th anniversary, we had the opportunity to interview the President of its Board of Directors. Mr Fady Juez was elected last November for the period 2022-2024, after having been a member of its board for two decades. The protagonist of SWMB16’s cover begins his term with a clear objective: "to do everything in my power to ensure that all communities, rural, remote and otherwise, have access to clean, safe and clean water at all times of the day". We at Smart Water Magazine wish Mr Juez the best of luck. His good judgement will be a success for all.

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