The Future of Water

Here’s a cool infographic on water challenges in the 21st century, courtesy of the Waterblog by Suez Environment and the World Water Forum. Fair warning: There are some alarming projections here about clean water shortages. That sort of thing might make you a little sad on this lovely Monday, so here’s a link to some adorable animal videos that you can clear your mind with afterward. Among the many interesting statistics (It takes 11,000 liters of water to make 1 pair of jeans!) is the note that 2% of fresh water is expected to be produced by desalination by 2015. It seems like every other day we’re hearing about a big new desalination facility opening up somewhere in the world, or an advancement that improves the desalination process. One such advancement whose popularity is growing is forward osmosis (FO) for desalination. In short, forward osmosis utilizes natural osmotic pressure to aid in water treatment, therefore requiring less energy and hydraulic pressure. Forward osmosis can also be used as pretreatment for a reverse osmosis system to create a continuous flow process with even greater efficiency. For more research on FO, Yale University’s Elimelech Lab is an excellent resource for forward osmosis desalination. You can also take a look at our new collection of forward osmosis cells and pumps for this application. Visit Waterblog here