Elemental Water Makers
Contents
Reverse osmosis without the downsides
Already 4 billion people face water scarcity today. The key to moving from scarcity to abundance lies in the sea. Desalination uses a great deal of fossil energy and is a nightmare to maintain. Not anymore: Elemental Water Makers provides efficient and easy reverse osmosis technology.
Powered by the sun, wind, waves or your own energy source.
You can get reliable access to clean water that’s affordable.
Desalination driven by renewable energy - Virgin Islands |
Solar Desalination Affordable clean water from unlimited resources. |
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Desalination without the huge energy bills
Reverse osmosis can be quite energy intensive, leading to high operational expenses. But it doesn’t have to be. Elemental Water Makers provide solutions with low energy consumption, even at small-scale.
Membrane fouling, rusty components, and an empty water storage in the morning are worries are of the past. Through constant operation and automated fresh flushes, the membrane lifetime is maximized. All components in contact with salt water have been carefully selected to resist corrosive environments and have a minimum of maintenance. Operation becomes stress-free through remote monitoring, control and automation.
Using elevation, powered by gravity
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Turning seawater or brackish water into affordable fresh water, 24 hours a day, without the use of expensive energy. The off-grid solution directly uses solar, wind or wave energy to fill a buffer tank on a hill with seawater. Through the force of gravity, the reverse osmosis process receives its required feed: pressurized seawater. The system configuration makes sure the water buffer always contains water to enable constant water production, resulting in lowest cost of water. The waste energy of the reverse osmosis process is reused to reduce the required elevation with 80% to 90 m or 290 ft for seawater.
The buffer tank can be easily constructed using a corrugated, galvanized, coated steel tank with liner that is suitable for corrosive environments. A concrete cistern or basin are suitable alternatives. This uses the forces of nature at its best for an independent guilt-free water supply. By avoiding energy conversion losses, batteries & frequent maintenance, savings up to 70% can be realized. The bigger, the better, as water cost comes down with the size of production. Sizes start small and go up to millions of liters per day.
| No elevation? No problem! View our website for battery and other energy source solutions |
Footprint indication
| Footprint indication | 10 m³/day 2,240 gallon/day |
100 m³/day 26,400 gallon/day |
200 m³/day 264,000 gallon/day |
| Solar panels m² (ft²) | 64 m² (690 ft²) | 640 m² (6,900 ft²) | 6.400 m² (69,000 ft²) |
| Desalination unit m² (ft²) | 7 m² (75 ft²) | 25 m² (270 ft²) | 150 m² (1,615 ft²) |
| Elevated buffer m3 (US gallon) | 100 m3 (26,410 gal) | 1.000 m3 (264,100 gal) | 10.000 m3 (2,641,000 gal) |
| Buffer diameter m (ft), h = 3 m | 6,5 m (21 ft) | 20,6 m (68 ft) | 65,1 m (214 ft) |
Example case: gravity
The problem
The resort receives its piped water from the island public utility company and faces a commercial rate of 5 $/m³. With a consumption of 50 m³/day, the water expenses weigh heavily on the resort’s operational expenses. Some days, there is no water available and some days, the quality doesn’t meet the high resort’s standards.
The solution
Enter Elemental Water Makers. Through investing in the Gravity-assisted solution, 70% savings on the water expenses will be enjoyed, resulting in over 1.100.000 $. The solution’s payback is within 4 years.
The benefits
Besides these financial savings, the resort has become independent on the availability and price of energy, provide high-quality water to their guest, save 100 ton CO2 per year, enjoys stress-free operation & remote monitoring and offer their clients a sustainable experience.
Assumptions: costs including installation and training | Yearly inflation of 2% | Local water price is 5 $/m³ | Water intake available | Financial lifetime 15 yrs | Technical lifetime >20 yrs | OpEx include consumables, spare parts and membrane replacement.
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 Water tariff in $/m3 Over $1,000,000 in total savings. |
Acknowledgements
