Seawater desalination is an increasingly key solution for the scarcity of water
Seawater covers 71% of the planet surface and represents 97% of the world's water. With more than 40 years of experience, technologies and knowledge in desalination, Veolia Water Technologies supports municipalities and industries around the world in the implementation of their seawater desalination strategies.
Our all-encompassing range of water treatment solutions and seawater desalination technologies are dedicated optimize the management of the water resources. Combined with local presence and a worldwide network of experts, we ensure our clients the best possible solutions to supply high quality water, manage brine concentrates, produce or recover energy, extract raw materials and capitalize on by-products.
Through its subsidiaries SIDEM & Entropie, Veolia is specialized in desalination and can address specific markets. They build seawater or brackish water desalination plants of all sizes, using four types of solutions: Multi-Stage Flash Distillation (MSF), Multiple Effect Distillation (MED), Reverse Osmosis Desalination (RO) and Hybrid desalination which couples MED and RO.
Whatever the water source, Veolia Water Technologies has built more than 1,950 Reverse Osmosis desalination plants and systems in 85 countries during the last four decades that produce more than 6.75 million m3/day of fresh water for both municipal and industrial needs. As an example, the Veolia-designed, built and operated Reverse Osmosis desalination facility in Sydney, Australia, provides up to 15% of the city's daily water needs. Ours leading technologies help reduce water scarcity.
They represent first-class worldwide expertise in seawater desalination with a cumulated desalinated water production of more than 13 million cubic meters per day in 108 countries.
Thermal Water Desalination
Saline content is separated by evaporating seawater in distillation systems. A process known as Multiple Effect Distillation (MED) reuses the energy generated during vapor condensation, reducing the energy consumption required to heat the water.
Veolia Water Technologies' subsidiaries SIDEM and Entropie are recognized leaders in MED with more than 330 projects successfully delivered, a market share of over 80%.
Main Veolia's MED plants flagship:
| MED Plant | Country | Capacity in MLD | Operation Start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marafiq IWPP, Jubail | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | 800 | 2010 |
| Az Zour North IWPP | Kuwait | 486 | 2016 |
| Al Fujairah 2 IWPP | United Arab Emirates / Fujairah | 455 | 2010 |
| Ras Laffan C IWPP | Qatar | 286 | 2010 |
| Al Hidd IWPP | Bahrain | 272 | 2007 |
| Al Taweelah A1 | United Arab Emirates / Abu Dhabi | 240 | 2002 |
| Zawai Derna & Sussa | Libya | 160 | 2009 |
| Layyah D12/D13 | United Arab Emirates / Sharjah | 77 | 2006 / 2007 |
| Ras Al Kaimah | United Arab Emirates / Ajman | 68 | 2005 |
Reverse Osmosis Desalination
Reverse Osmosis desalination process via membranes has become a widely used solution to provide drinking water from seawater or brackish water. It is particularly suited in countries under water stress and with limited energy resources.
Main Veolia's RO plants flagship, designed and built by its subsidiary SIDEM
| RO Plant | Country | Capacity in MLD | Operation Start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney Kurnell | Australia | 250 | 2010 |
| Basrah P4 | Iraq | 199 | 2016 |
| Sadara Marafiq, Jubail | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | 179 | 2015 |
| Al Fujairah 2 | United Arab Emirates | 136 | 2010 |
| Az Zour South | Kuwait | 136 | 2014 |
| Sur | Oman | 128** | 2009/2016 |
| Gold Coast | Australia | 125 | 2010 |
Hybrid Water Desalination
Increasingly, thermal desalination and reverse osmosis are being combined, an innovation that allows electricity use to be optimized and reduces production costs.Veolia is the only company in the world to master both MED and Reverse Osmosis to offer energy-efficient hybrid desalination. This solution was implemented in 2010 at the Fujairah 2 plant in United Arab Emirates.