Polychaetes (Annelida) of Cyprus (Eastern Mediterranean Sea): An Updated and Annotated Checklist including New Distribution Records

The diversity and distribution of polychaetes in the coastal area and the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus is presented based on both the literature records and new data acquired in a wide range of environmental monitoring programmes and research projects. A total of 585 polychaete species belonging to 49 families were reported in Cyprus waters;...

Economic and cost-effectiveness analysis of integrated desalination and brine treatment systems

The brine generated from desalination is a threat to the environment, and its disposal has been a great challenge. A new concept Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) can minimize the environmental impact of brine. However, the high costs for construction and running of a ZLD plant limits its growth in desalination market. Therefore, a new strategy...

Is Desalination a Solution to Freshwater Scarcity in Developing Countries?

Rapid population growth and urbanization are two main drivers for the over-abstraction of conventional freshwater resources in various parts of the world, which leads to the situation of water scarcity (per capita availability <1000 m³ /year). Predictions based on the World Bank projected population data and the FAO AQUASTAT...

Hybrid membrane system for desalination and wastewater treatment: Integrating forward osmosis and low pressure reverse osmosis

Since more than 97% of the water in the world is seawater, desalination technologies have the potential to solve the fresh water crisis. The most used desalination technology nowadays is seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO), where a membrane is used as a physical barrier to separate the salts from the water, using high hydraulic pressure as the...

Desalination of historic mansonry: Pre-investigation, treatment and follow-up care

Salt crystallization constitutes one of the most widespread decay mechanisms affecting historic buildings. Desalination is a conservation treatment of growing importance in the case of historic masonry. Salts present in porous materials cause damage through their interaction with moisture. Consequently, in certain situations the prevention of...

Mild desalination of cooling tower blowdown water with electrodialysis and membrane capacitive deionization: A comparative study

Study towards the feasibility of desalination of cooling tower blowdown water with electrodialysis and membrane capacitive deionization.

Upflow limestone contactor for soft and desalinated water

Desalinated or demineralised water or even soft water is characteristically low in hardness, alkalinity and pH. Thus, these kinds of water need to be re-conditioned (re-mineralized) before distributing for usage as drinking water. The produced water is expected to satisfy the following requirements: safe quality for human health, no quality...

Design and Characterization of a single-effect Electrohydrodynamic Desalinator

World water scarcity has forced the public and private initiative to consider the sea as a possible source of drinking water over the last decades. The pressure was felt by the scientific community which started investigations for cheap and efficient ways to treat sea water. Nowadays, a number of well proven technologies exist with advantages...

Fine tuning of desalination poultices: Try-outs in practice

Development of an environmental impact assessment and decision support system for seawater desalination plants

Seawater desalination is a rapidly growing coastal-based industry. The combined production capacity of all seawater desalination plants worldwide has increased by 30% over the last two years: from 28 million cubic meters per day in 2007—which is the equivalent of the average discharge of the River Seine at Paris—to more than 36 million cubic...

Menging bij een twee-lagen-systeem veroorzaakt door wind

Electrokinetic salt removal from porous building materials using ion exchange membranes

The removal of salt from porous building materials under the influence of an applied voltage gradient normally results in high pH gradients due to the formation of protons and hydroxyl ions at the electrodes. The formed acidic and alkaline regions not only lead to disintegration of the porous material, but also affect the salt transport. In this...