Small, Scalable, Distributed Community-Based Seawater Desalination
NexGenDesal™ Systems can produce 4-20K m3/day of potable water (1-5 M gallons) from seawater. With this system we can address the water needs of greenfield developments, small towns, and large cities (using multiple plants).
The environmental and political advantages of this scale plant are so significant that one would think that such plants would dominate the market. But, until now small plants have not been commercially competitive with regional mega-scale plants. That's the magic of NexGenDesal – environmentally and politically superior and commercially competitive with mega-scale plants. |
Commercial Competitiveness
Cost of Plant:
Our small seawater desalination plants can compete with large, regional systems on a CapEx basis by securing equal or greater economies of scale through standardization and manufacturability. Cost of Operation & Maintenance Having the lowest specific power consumption gives us a head start on OpEx competitiveness. Lights-out operability enables regional O&M operations that allows us to compete on an OpEx basis with large, regional systems by spreading the OpEx over multiple plants. Predictive diagnostics reduces our spares inventory, while standardization allows us to reduce spares inventory even further by spreading the spares package over multiple plants. Cost of Money Standardized Technical Risk, and O&M Risk facilitates Standardized Multi-Plant A/B Loan Financing that will allow us to compete on a Cost of Money basis with large, regional water treatment systems by spreading the legal, technical and administrative costs of project financing over multiple plants |
Environmental Advantages
As traditionally practiced, seawater desalination requires a veritable river of seawater laden with vital sea life to flow into the plant alongside another river of highly concentrated and chemically burdened brine flowing back into the ocean. The size and scale of these deadly flows are larger than the ocean can be expected to assimilate resulting in potentially horrific ecological damage. High power consumption (e.g., 3-3.5 kWh per m3 of water produced) adds further damage to the environment from the coal, gas, or oil generators needed to produce this energy, and the carbon footprint of these plants is increased further by the production and transportation of the acids, polymers, and chlorine that is used in their pretreatment processes.
None of this potential horror applies to NexGenDesal Plants. Our undersea intakes eliminate the entrainment and destruction of vital sea life. Our less concentrated, chemical free discharge (in volumes more reminiscent of a babbling brook than a raging river) is easily assimilated by the ocean, all but eliminating ecological impacts. And our renewably powered plants (or lowest in the industry power consumption if grid powered) and chemical-free pre-treatment produce a carbon footprint that is nearly unnoticeable. Safe, secure, and totally sustainable – It’s a “must have” for us, and for the world. |
Political Advantages
For centuries water wars have pitted nation against nation, town against town, and brother against brother. While water needs are inherently local, water resources are inherently regional thus requiring cooperation among competing users of this vital yet limited and unequally distributed resource.
Surface water resources pit the haves against the have-nots. Ground water resources pit agricultural, industrial, and domestic users against each other. The current mega-scale water production and treatment facilities often require regional solutions that pit the beneficiaries of the facilities against those whose peace and tranquility (and property values) may be upended by the large, ugly, loud, and malodorous plant (i.e., the NIMBY Effect). For coastal communities, our NexGenDesal System can satisfy the local/community water needs with a clean, safe, secure, sustainable, community-based solution while avoiding the Sisyphean task of resolving the existential conflicts among competing regional interests. |