Along with the announcement this week that Australian households have reduced their water consumption by around six per cent, comes the news that energy efficient desalination received a boost this week with the establishment of a new research collaboration between CSIRO and nine of Australia's leading universities.
The research aims to help advance water desalination as an alternative water supply option for Australia by dramatically increasing efficiency while reducing the financial and environmental costs of producing desalinated water.
Led by Professor Stephen Gray of Victoria University, the multi-disciplinary research team will carry out a comprehensive evaluation of existing membrane technology and develop new energy efficient membranes.
"Many desalination and recycling programs rely on a process called reverse osmosis, where the water is forced through a semi-permeable membrane, removing salts and any other contaminants," Professor Gray says.
"These membranes need regular replacement and cleaning, but they also require a large amount of energy to force water through what are nano-sized pores.
"We aim to improve membrane design to increase their energy efficiency and reliability, thus reducing the financial and environmental costs of producing desalinated and recycled water.
