Workshop 2: The Future of Seawater Desalination: Innovations in Desalting and Brine Management

The current state-of-the-art in seawater desalination is standard pretreatment, single-stage seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) with a recovery of about 50 %, and brine disposal by an outfall diffuser, with challenges identified in the operation of conventional SWRO. High energy consumption by SWRO has led to innovations in membrane materials and process configurations. In addition, there is increasing interest in valorisation of SWRO brines and concomitant recovery of valuable materials to contribute to the circular economy. In this workshop, high level speakers from industry and academic researchers shared their expertise on SWRO pre-treatment innovations, SWRO materials and processes innovations, and valorisation of SWRO brines and valuable materials recovery. Selected industry panelists then spoke about their innovations in desalination membrane and processes followed by panel discussion on the future of seawater desalination.