1. A dialogue between social and technical research on desalination
IHE Delft
4th Wicked Debate
26th July 2018
Tapping the oceans
A dialogue between social and technical research on desalination
Joe Williams | Department of Geography | Durham University |

2. “If we could ever competitively, at a cheap rate, get freshwater from saltwater…it would be in the long range interests of humanity, which would really dwarf any other scientific accomplishment” President J.F. Kennedy (1961)

3. Water panacea? Desalination by numbers:
19,000 plants producing 90 million cubic meters per day
Supplying 300 million people in countries

4. Turnkey solution or hydro-fix?
Desalination “offers a seemingly unlimited, steady supply of high-quality water, without impairing natural freshwater ecosystems” (Elimelech and Phillip, 2011) “Desalination appears as a sort of ‘cornucopia’ able in principle to solve future water needs of urban expansion” (March et al., 2014)
“Implementing desalination as a technological fix on top of a water management system that is plagued with more systemic and structural problems does little to improve water security in a broader sense.” (McEvoy, 2014)

5. The contradictions of desalination
Governance
Price
Energy intensity
Marine ecology

6. The governance contradiction
Turning local waters into global finance (Swyngedouw, 2013)
Privatisation and commercialisation of water services
Commodification of water
Top companies: Veolia Environment, Doosan, General Electric, Fisia Italimpianti, Degremont, IDE Technologies, Acciona

7. The price contradiction
Desalination is the costliest source of water for coastal communities
Issue of social justice
Issue of demand risk
Example: Australia’s Millennium Drought
Large plants built for Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide – four our of six have been idle since 2011

8. The energy contradiction
Highly energy-intense process – around 4kWh per cubic metre
Energy is largest cost component –vulnerable to energy price/availability fluctuations
Climate change maladaptation?
1.4 – 1.8 kgs CO2 emissions per cubic metre
From Stillwell and Webber (2016)

9. The marine ecology contradiction
“If we sit back and we don’t use…desal…it’s going to mean big dams that destroy our rivers and fisheries” Barbara Boxer, U.S. Senator
BUT, growing concern about local impacts on marine ecology
Brine discharge
Seawater intake

10. Thank you! Joe Williams | Department of Geography | Durham University|