The need for fresh water is increasing with the rapid growth of the world's population. In countries and regions with available water resources, it is necessary to ensure the health and safety of the water supply. However, in countries and regions with limited freshwater resources, priority is given to water supply plans and projects, among which the desalination strategy stands out. In the desalination process, membrane and thermal processes are used to obtain fresh water from salty water that is in abundant amounts in the sea. This book will outline valuable scientific contributions to the new desalination and water treatment technologies to obtain high quality water with low negative environmental impacts and cost. The editors would like to record their sincere thanks to the authors for their contributions.

A growing proportion of the world’s population is dependent on Seawater Desalination as a source of fresh water for both potable and civil use. One of the main drawbacks of conventional desalination technologies is the substantial energy requirement, which is facing cost increases in the global energy market. "Seawater Desalination" presents an overview of conventional and non-conventional technologies, with a particular focus on the coupling of renewable energies with desalination processes. The first section of this book presents, in a technical but reader-friendly way, an overview of currently-used desalination processes, from thermal to membrane processes, highlighting the relevant technical features, advantages and disadvantages, and development potential. It also gives a rapid insight into the economic aspects of fresh water production from seawater. The second section of the book presents novel processes which use Renewable Energies for fresh water production. From the first solar still evaporators, which artificially reproduced the natural cycle of water, technology has progressed to develop complex systems to harness energy from the sun, wind, tides, waves, etc. and then to use this energy to power conventional or novel desalination processes. Most of these processes are still at a preliminary stage of development, but some are already being cited as examples in remote areas, where they are proving to be valuable in solving the problems of water scarcity. A rapid growth in these technologies is foreseen in the coming years. This book provides a unique foundation, within the context of present and future sustainability, for professionals, technicians, managers, and private and public institutions operating in the area of fresh water supply.

Desalination Technology: Health and Environmental Impacts covers the latest developments in desalination, examining the environmental and public health-related impacts of these technologies. Written by international experts, the text presents specifications for assessing water quality, technical issues associated with desalination technologies, and

Committee Serial No. 15.

This book was written by undergraduate students at The Ohio State University (OSU) who were enrolled in the class Introduction to Environmental Science. The chapters describe some of Earth's major environmental challenges and discuss ways that humans are using cutting-edge science and engineering to provide sustainable solutions to these problems. Topics are as diverse as the students, who represent virtually every department, school and college at OSU. The environmental issue that is described in each chapter is particularly important to the author, who hopes that their story will serve as inspiration to protect Earth for all life.

Industrial desalination of sea and brackish water is becoming an essential part in providing sustainable sources of fresh water for a larger number of communities around the world. Desalination is a main source of fresh water in the Gulf countries, a number of the Caribbean and Mediterranean Islands, and several municipalities in a large number of countries. As the industry expands there is a pressing need to have a clear and well-written textbook that focuses on desalination fundamentals and other industrial aspects.This book focuses on the processes widely used in industry, which include multistage flash desalination and reverse osmosis. Also, other desalination processes with attractive features and high potential are featured. It includes a large number of solved examples, which are explained in simple and careful matter that allow the reader to follow and understand the development. The data used in the development of the examples and case studies are extracted from existing desalination plants.This title also includes comparisons of model predictions against results reported in literature as well as available experimental and industrial data. Several industries include similar unit operation processes, i.e., evaporators, condensers, flashing units, membrane separation, and chemical treatment. Examples of such industries include wastewater treatment, food, petroleum, petrochemical, power generation, and pulp and paper. Process fundamentals and design procedures of such unit processes follow the same procedures given in this textbook.

Over 3 million U.S. military personnel were sent to Southeast Asia to fight in the Vietnam War. Since the end of the Vietnam War, veterans have reported numerous health effects. Herbicides used in Vietnam, in particular Agent Orange have been associated with a variety of cancers and other long term health problems from Parkinson's disease and type 2 diabetes to heart disease. Prior to 1997 laws safeguarded all service men and women deployed to Vietnam including members of the Blue Navy. Since then, the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has established that Vietnam veterans are automatically eligible for disability benefits should they develop any disease associated with Agent Orange exposure, however, veterans who served on deep sea vessels in Vietnam are not included. These "Blue Water Navy" veterans must prove they were exposed to Agent Orange before they can claim benefits. At the request of the VA, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) examined whether Blue Water Navy veterans had similar exposures to Agent Orange as other Vietnam veterans. Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure comprehensively examines whether Vietnam veterans in the Blue Water Navy experienced exposures to herbicides and their contaminants by reviewing historical reports, relevant legislation, key personnel insights, and chemical analysis to resolve current debate on this issue.

There has been an exponential increase in desalination capacity both globally and nationally since 1960, fueled in part by growing concern for local water scarcity and made possible to a great extent by a major federal investment for desalination research and development. Traditional sources of supply are increasingly expensive, unavailable, or controversial, but desalination technology offers the potential to substantially reduce water scarcity by converting the almost inexhaustible supply of seawater and the apparently vast quantities of brackish groundwater into new sources of freshwater. Desalination assesses the state of the art in relevant desalination technologies, and factors such as cost and implementation challenges. It also describes reasonable long-term goals for advancing desalination technology, posits recommendations for action and research, estimates the funding necessary to support the proposed research agenda, and identifies appropriate roles for governmental and nongovernmental entities.

Undoubtedly, drinking water of an acceptable quality has become a scarce commodity. Water shortage is becoming a major concern all around the world due to limited freshwater resources as well as the high cost of freshwater transportation from freshwater-rich areas to arid areas. As a result, solutions such as water recycling and desalination of saline or brackish water are being introduced and emerging worldwide as alternative ways of supplying water. Desalination of seawater is known to be one of mankind’s earliest forms of water treatment, and it has become one of the most sustainable alternative solutions to provide freshwater for many communities and industrial sectors. This book aims to cover the challenges and opportunities in desalination processes.