Mobile desalination 1

Emergency and contingency responses – a role for desalination

Mohamad Amin Saad and Murray Eldridge presentations

Mobile floating barges can provide water in steps to meet emergency water or contingency water needs – medium term operation.

Barges may have several advantages: they can be fully independent, mobile and may be deployed quickly. Barges may be modular and scale-able – the number and size can be chosen appropriate to the challenge.

Their operation must meet environmental requirements and legislation of the site – their use must be able to adapt to the marine environment. This may place restrictions on the use of flocculants and acids used to reducing membrane fouling

Barges may be popular in places where investors don’t want to invest money in permanent facilities, for example at locations where they may be uncertainties regarding long term funding – they can be removed as quickly as they can be set up.

Challenges with mobile and medium term units: who funds? Who delivers? Who manages? For example, it may be difficult for the companies to break into the market where conventional (water tankers, ships, bottled water) may be seen as more tried and tested, even though these conventional solutions may be more expensive.

Barge costs may be shared between users in ‘water alliances’: several locations can share the barge as it moves periodically between locations.

Note that in some cases the barge concept can be utilised on land. This has been the case in Cyprus where the system can be set up on a medium term basis. Installation is described as taking about 7 weeks (and can be removed equally quickly).

I question the EIA proceedures under such interventions? At what point do 'emergency measures' over-rule the environmental imperatives?