American Water Works teams up on new desal tech

Voorhees, N.J.-based American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) said today it is teaming up with four Netherlands-based entities to launch a research effort focused on developing new desalination technologies for use in existing and new membrane plants.

American Water Works, the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company, plans to work in cooperation with Vitens, RWB Waterservices, University of Twente, and WE Consult on the Clean Operator project.

The project is being co-funded by SenterNovem, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, with the intent of reducing the costs, environmental impact and carbon footprint of desalination. The project has a budget of €1.5 million to €2 million ($2.2 million to $3 million) for 2009-2011.

The partners are looking to develop new technologies for seawater desalination and the treatment of surface water and wastewater using reverse osmosis membranes.

“Many desalination plants suffer from membrane fouling, and in some cases the membranes need frequent chemical cleaning, which increases operational costs and the emission of waste chemicals and carbon dioxide to the environment,” said Mark LeChevallier, American Water’s director of innovation and environmental stewardship, in a news release. “The goal of the Clean Operator project is to reduce operational costs through a sustainable operation resulting in cleaner membranes.”

California-based startup DXV Water Technologies is pursing ultrasonic vibration as a method for cleaning membranes, and could also be used to keep them from being fouled (see California startup makes plans to install second desal device).

The new project's fundamental research is expected to be performed by the University of Twente, which has extensive experience in membrane filtration, including module hydraulics and membrane preparation.

University researchers are to receive assistance from Vitens, the largest water supply company in the Netherlands, and WE Consult, a Netherlands consultancy focused on developing new water technologies.

RWB Waterservices, a Dutch supplier of water treatment equipment, and WE Consult said they plan to focus on developing the technology, while Vitens and American Water expect to apply the technology in their water treatment plants.

Although the United States is the source of much of today's membrane technology, the country has lagged in the number of facilities actually converting saltwater into drinking water. At the end of 2007, there were more than 13,080 desalination plants worldwide, but just 119 in the U.S., according to the International Desalination Association (see Largest desalination plant in Western world gets go-ahead).

American Water also said yesterday its financing subsidiary closed an offering of $28.5 million in tax-exempt water facility revenue bonds. The proceeds are expected to be used to repay debt from constructing water treatment and transmission facilities in Illinois.

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