Design and operation of medium- and small-size desalination plants in remote areas - New perspective for improved reliability, durability and lower costs

Many areas worldwide, including the southern Mediterranean, are becoming in creasingly dependent on desalination. In most areas where brackish water is available, the RO process is usually the most suitable. RO is also the pre ferred process for small- and medium-size seawater desalination. Israel is one of the Mediterranean countries where RO is solely used, both for bracki sh and for seawater desalination. Special attention has to be given to the design of plants operating in remote areas. An overview of the plants curre ntly operating in Israel along with the design criteria applied to obtain h igh reliability and low cost is presented. New trends and perspective for f urther technological improvements aimed to improve reliability and to lower cost are reviewed and analyzed.