Desalination Case Study

The market Emergency point-of-use desalination/filtration is a market that caters predominately to aid organizations and NGOs during times of crises. The 2004 Official Water Assistance figures from the World Water Council stipulate a figure of 4.5 billion dollars with the basic drinking water supply and sanitation sector where EPWDF would be placed receiving 750 million dollars. Current water assistance trends are moving away from large system water supply and sanitation, from 3 billion dollars in 1993 to 1.5 billion dollars by 2002. Conversely, water assistance aid has increased as has aid in general world wide with the countries of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) contributing a total 78.6 Billion dollars in 2004 with the Organization
The potential growth within this market with America alone can be attributed to an imprecise nature of weather, a skyrocketing population growth and subsequent increases in demand for water in arid, semi-arid and coastal areas despite water being relatively inexpensive and plentiful compared to many other parts of the world. In addition, many communities are turning to desalination technology as a cost effective method of meeting increasingly stringent water quality regulations.
Governmental agencies such as the USBR have a guiding vision that "By 2020, desalination and water purification technologies will contribute significantly to ensuring a safe, sustainable, affordable, and adequate water supply for the United States". Other key drivers in the market include localized water shortages, saltwater intrusion into underground aquifers, political involvement, reduced plant prices and the thought that alternative water supply options such as recycling of sewage effluent remain unacceptable. Some of the key restraints include presently sufficient water supplies, the relative high cost of desalinated water and increased rates of water reuse and recycling for agricultural and industrial use