WASHINGTON & PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Evoqua today announced that it has successfully completed a pilot of its Nexed™ electrochemical desalination modules at the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo, NM. The announcement was made as part of Evoqua’s participation at the White House Water Summit held today in concurrence with the United Nations World Water Day.
The Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility, part of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of the Interior, is the focal point for developing technologies for the desalination of brackish and impaired groundwater found in the inland states. This facility brings together researchers from other Federal government agencies, universities, the private sector, research organizations, and state and local agencies to work collaboratively and in partnership toward improving our nation’s water resources.
The Bureau of Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United States, with operations and facilities in the 17 Western States. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Reclamation believes that improving research and processes will help to increase output and also lower the costs of desalinating brackish or saline groundwater.
The pilot’s goal was to test a variety of brackish water feed sources provided by the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility. The knowledge gained from the testing demonstrated the viability of the desalination technology across a number of brackish water sources. The pilot results have led Evoqua to develop a larger pilot system using production Nexed modules that can be utilized to demonstrate the technology at facilities across the world.
Nexed modules are already the foundation of a desalination demonstration facility nearing completion in Tuas Singapore capable of producing 500,000 gallons of desalinated water a day. Evoqua is working with PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, to build the new desalination facility with support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), through the TechPioneer piloting programme. The facility is nearing completion and staged increases in flow rate will be achieved through 2017 after the first 90 m3/day system is installed in early-2016.
To put the size of the facility to be built in context, more than 80 percent of municipal drinking water systems in the United States serve a population base using this amount of output; a town of nearly 6,000 residents can be served by a facility of this size. And according to the U.S. EPA, 97 percent of public drinking water systems in the U.S. serve 10,000 or fewer customers.
“We appreciate the support of the Administration, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Brackish Groundwater Desalination Research team in working with us toward a common goal of developing technologies to improve our country’s ability to protect and better utilize our nation’s water supply,” said Ron Keating, Evoqua CEO. “We look forward to taking our work here to additional validations to help people all over the world.”
How Evoqua’s Nexed™ modules work
Electrodialysis is a membrane process in which ions are transported through selective ion permeable membranes from one solution to another under the influence of an electrical potential gradient. Alternating ion selective membranes (anionic and cationic) can be configured to create separated streams of purified and concentrated water.
For info on Evoqua’s Nexed™ electrochemical desalination modules, visit www.nexedwater.com. For more information on the Bureau of Reclamation, visit its website at www.usbr.gov and follow on Twitter @USBR.
About Evoqua
Evoqua Water Technologies is the global leader in helping municipalities and industrial customers protect and improve the world's most fundamental natural resource: water. Evoqua has a more than 100-year heritage of innovation and industry firsts, market-leading expertise, and unmatched customer service, where it continues to transform water and wastewater. Its cost-effective and reliable treatment systems and services ensure uninterrupted quantity and quality of water, enable regulatory and environmental compliance, increase efficiency through water reuse, and prepare customers for next-generation demands.
Evoqua's unparalleled portfolio of proven brands, advanced technologies, mobile and emergency water supply solutions and service helps cities across the world provide and discharge clean water, and enable leisure and commercial industry to maximize productivity and profitability. For more information, visit www.evoqua.com.
