elixir 500 - hvr...elixir is originally developed as an electrical appliance for small households...

ELIXIR 500

WHITE PAPER 2013

© HVR Water Purification AB (publ) March 2013 2

Summary

HVR Water Purification AB (publ.) (HVR), a Swedish public non-listed company, has developed applications for a licensed technology known as Membrane Distillation (MD). The applications developed are for household and for small community use. The technology allows in one sim-ple robust step to purify nearly any quality of water to a high level of purity. It requires heating water and allowing vapor to pass through a microporous hydrophobic membrane to condense on the other side. The separations process takes place on the molecular level and involves the latest findings in nanotechnology. A specific product, ELIXIR 500, uses low grade heat generated for other purposes, to purify most qualities of feed water to a very high degree. It is designed to easily fit on to sources of energy including biomass, biofuel, solar, gas, amongst others, preferably in co-generation of hot water. Although 500 liter is the benchmark output, the models are modular, potentially offering a wide range of throughputs. As shown in this White Paper, ELIXIR 500 is economically competitive. But the main advantage for the customer is the absolute removal of all contaminants. This will protect the consumer not only from acute illness caused by virus, bacteria and other pathogens but also from long term effects of the combination of potential known and unknown contaminants in the water, creating what is called a “body-burden”. The complete safety will also be the main argument for the product and the main pitch to the consumer.

Absolutely pure – always – therefore complete protection


The Technology

Membrane Distillation (MD) is a separation process on the molecular level. In ELIXIR 500, the primary component is a cassette holder with hydrophobic membranes, in which the water purification process takes place.

Principle of Membrane Distillation Water to be purified is heated and circulates in the middle of the cassette between the two membranes. On the other sides of the membranes are cold surfaces. The difference in vapor pressure between the hot and cold side forces the water molecules through. When the water molecules reach the cold side of the membranes, the molecules condense and purified water runs down to a receptacle. The result is the absolute separation of all non-volatile contami-nants. The integration of a degasser will also remove all volatile contaminants and the result is absolutely pure water where all types of contaminants have been removed. The process takes place at ambient pressure and at temperatures between 50-90 °C. No pres-sure and low temperature ensures reliability and durability. Aside from depreciation and maintenance the only cost of the process is in heating water to below boiling point (<95 0C). The energy required for the process is about 0, 7 kWh for every liter produced. About 0, 0005 kWh of electricity for every liter of produced water is required for pumps and fan to drive the process. Where heat energy can be made available, the cost of the purified water becomes lower than with other purification processes. The basis for most commercial applications will be polygeneration which in this instance would mean that virtually the same amount of heat that is introduced on the hot side is then


expelled on the condensation side where after it can be beneficially used. The heat is not used up in the process. It acts as a catalyst for molecular transport. The function of the heat energy is to stir the water molecules to leave the feed side where after it (the heat energy) will be re-captured on the condensation side. ELIXIR 500 can therefore be added to heat systems with-out detracting significantly from heat being produced and used. The heat losses are approxi-mately 0.01 kWh per liter.

Type of contamination Amount Result Method Detection level Test by

Bacteria 14 000 (after 7

days) 0

Membrane filter count

- National Bacteriologic Laboratory, Stockholm

Chlorine 3.4 mg/l 0 Photometric analysis

(Perkin Elmer) < 0.01 mg/l

Water Protection Ass of South West Finland

Salt water 31 000 ppm 0 Ion chromatography < 1 ppm VBB Viak Stockholm

Trihalomethanes 1 000 µg/l 0 Gas chromatography < 1 µg/l University of Turku, Finland

Radon 380 Bq/l 0 Alfa detection < 4 Bq/l Swedish Radiation Protection Institute

Cesium Strontium Plutonium Radium

2.4 Bq 0 Lithium Drifted

Germanium Detector < 0.1 Bq

Radiation Physics De-partment, Univ of Lund

Arsenic +3 10 mg/l 0 AAS Graphite < 0,003 mg/l Analytica AB, Stock-holm

Arsenic +5 10 mg/l 0 AAS Graphite < 0,003 mg/l Analytica AB, Stock-holm

General test results to show that all types of contaminants are completely removed.


Result Xzero 2012-11-08

Treatment plant: Sjöstadsverket

Date: 2012-11-08

Substans: Mode of action: Effluent from municipal waste water plant (ng/L)

Module 1a, 52C (ng/L)

Module 1b, 54C (ng/L)

Diclofenac Anti-inflammatory 336 <3 <3

Furosemide Diuretics 592 <5 <5

Sulfamethoxazole Antibiotic 95 <5 <5

Hydrochlorothiazide Antihypertensive 860 <7 <7

Ibuprofen Anti-inflammatory 63 <3 <3

Naproxen Anti-inflammatory 42 <5 <5

Warfarin Blood thinning 12,8 <2 <2

Atenolol Antihypertensive 136 <1 <1

Ciprofloxacin Antibiotic 16 <10 <10

Paracetamol Anti-inflammatory 20 <8 <8

Trimetoprim Antibiotic 15 <3 <3

Ranitidine Anti-acid 46 <5 <5

Metoprolol Antihypertensive 761 <1 <1

Oxazepam Sedatives 187 <2 <2

Carbamazepine Sedatives 190 <1 <1

Ketoprofen Anti-inflammatory 53 <4 <4

Amlodipine Antihypertensive 38 <8 <8

Propranolol Antihypertensive 50 <2 <2

Citalopram Antidepressant 115 <2 <2

Bisoprolol Antihypertensive 25 <3 <3

Sertralin Antidepressant 3,7 <0.8 <0.8

< means below the indicated detection limit

The most recent test results have been obtained in tests of removal of pharmaceutical residue and metabolites. These tests show how extremely efficient the technology is. ng = nanogram = 0.000000001 g


The ELIXIR 500 modules do the same job as a battery of other purification technologies. The following is a comparison with other filter technologies as an example.

The Products

HVR has successfully combined the advantages of efficient thermal and membrane processes to a very small modular configuration. The name of this new product is ELIXIR 500. It is devel-oped for purifying water to drinking water with > 99% purification efficiency with a nominal capacity of 20 liters per hour or 500 liters per day. The product is suitable for installation in private homes, multiple households, larger individual households, catering outlets, or installa-tions where demand of water is less than 500 liters per day. Smaller and larger capacities are of course also possible.


The membrane module consists of several cartridges.

HVR conducted detailed study of inclusion of ELIXIR 500 in different systems for heating to-gether with The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Below is an example of integration with a solar water heater (the picture is not proportional).

The full system consists of a module and standard heating components.

The products do not require filter changes. ELIXIR 500 offers the consumer a reliable and trou-ble-free method to produce absolutely pure drinking water. The water is free from harmful contaminants – irrespective of initial water quality. The payoff time is short. All types of con-taminants are removed.


In countries where tap water is unfit for drinking and cooking purposes, ELIXIR 500 is a com-petitive alternative to bottled water. In addition, ELIXIR 500 also desalinates seawater. The basic concept is a single module design suitable for integration with residential comfort systems for heating and/or cooling. Additional modules can be added whereby virtually unlim-ited drinking water capacity can be obtained. Polygeneration is a particularly attractive proposition and provides the best market entry for ELIXIR 500. An add-on of an ELIXIR 500 will add a revenue stream, thus making the products in themselves, i.e. the products that ELIXIR 500 is attached to, more likely to be commercially viable. Both the add-ons and the full systems are equipped with a conductivity meter to ensure the continued quality of the water. Ions will pass the membrane immediately if the membrane is compromised and the product will shut down. As long the conductivity meter says OK, the user can be certain that the water is absolutely pure. As long as ions don’t get through, no other contaminants can. There are no filters or chemicals that need to be changed. The only maintenance needed is intermittent removal of scaling by cleaning with household acids like vinegar or lemon juice.

Markets

Private Households ELIXIR is originally developed as an electrical appliance for small households with a limited capacity of 10 – 50 liters of drinking water per day. To be able to produce more water and to reduce energy cost, ELIXIR 500 has been developed to be used in co-generation with water heaters, especially such that use sustainable energy. Since the market for such water heaters is growing rapidly it has been considered that market entry will be easiest with co-generation equipment. Market entry will be with the larger units. Once there is market acceptance and recognition also smaller units can be marketed to private households whose tap or well water contain contaminants or are brackish or salty. These will be of capacities of 10-50 liters per day. These will have a very large market. Already now most households in the tropics that can afford it own small purifiers of more or less reliable types – often in addition to buying tap water. The ELIXIR 500 will be a completely reliable product that makes water of superior quality than the best bottled waters.


Markets other than private households

• Use in conjunction with heat from generators, boilers or heaters on land and on boats, in rural or urban conditions.

• Solar power modules mounted on households or serving communities when combined

with a heater.

• Small communities where there is waste heat and/or a particular water pollution prob-lem, including village systems.

• Restaurants, or other commercial opportunities with a similar situation.

• Remote Islands where freight costs add to the cost of imported fossil fuels but where there are a number of sustainable energy options such as solar, biomass, biogas, tidal or wind power.

Boilers and heaters Nearly all homes in the more affluent countries, other than those, located in colder regions, which have community based heating, have either separate boilers for heating and hot water respectively or combination boilers that undertake both tasks. ELIXIR 500 could be sold as an add-on to these boilers and heaters. It is estimated that over 25 million boilers and other household water heaters are sold every year. With increasing standards of living in developing countries, this is likely to be an underes-timate. Even a small market penetration would be significant and over a period of time it should be possible to target a far larger consumer base. There are a larger number of companies who distribute and fit these boilers and would appear to offer a good market entry for ELIXIR 500. It is a matter of persuading the distributors and fitters to offer ELIXIR 500 add-on units together with boilers. The latter would gain from an extra margin they could charge for ELIXIR 500.

Generators Generators convert fuel into electricity. More than half of the energy content of the fuel be-comes heat and needs to be removed by air or water cooling. This heat can be used by ELIXIR 500. Any establishment with a generator can use the otherwise wasted heat from the engine cool-ant or exhaust cooler to purify water with an ELIXIR 500 add-on. One example is given in the Appendixes.


Solar Power The argument for combining ELIXIR 500 with energy generation is a simple case of polygenera-tion. Distributors can offer ELIXIR 500 as a simple add-on to household systems. The viability of the solar collector would be strengthened by a further revenue stream from the purified water. Many countries are encouraging development of solar power in the expectation that it will become commercially viable in time. A large range array of incentives distort financial analysis at present but there is general consensus that renewable energy prices will fall with economies of scale and further technical developments while carbon fuel costs are expected to increase. Water purification using the unused heat from solar panels and photovoltaic cells serves to hasten viability and use of solar power.

Small Community Systems Small communities, restaurants and hotels can combine their own heat generation, whatever the source, with ELIXIR 500. This becomes particularly attractive where the water that is avail-able is of low quality or polluted, because ELIXIR 500 is able to completely remove difficult pollutants such as bacteria, virus, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, iron, fluoride, arsenic, boron and chromium.

Catering or other Commercial Establishments Any commercial operation requiring purified water will be a suitable client for ELIXIR 500. Soda fountains in all restaurants, hotels, and bars are mostly for adding concentrated syrups to still or carbonated water. The safety of the drinks that they serve depends on how pure the water is. It is not completely safe anywhere but is far less safe in most tropical countries and some-times downright dangerous. All such establishments also have sources of heat that could be tapped to lower water cost. The customers would be the catering chains such as McDonalds, Starbuck, KFC and other simi-lar operations, soft drinks brands such as Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola, as well as restaurants, ho-tels and other commercial establishments. The Competition for such devices varies from simple filters to RO and activated carbon offering varying degrees of protection to customers. There is little regulation as to standards of water purification and, as a consequence, some systems in some countries are positively dangerous. Even the most advanced systems do not protect entirely against virus, bacteria and other pathogens, while ELIXIR 500 does. The main obstacle is actually the up-front cost of systems because this is the responsibility of franchise holders and there is lack of appreciation on matters of safety and cost of water over the life of the system. Therefore the equipment may have to be made available on leasing terms.


Remote Island Communities There are over 45,000 tropical islands in the world in addition to other islands. They are not all the same. Some are larger than others and some more populated. A large number have small populations and size. What nearly all lack is water and electricity and what all, save for atolls, have is biomass. Fossil fuel has to be transported long distances in small quantities, leading to a fuel cost far higher than the global rates. Islands often have one or more diesel generators serving a small area but very high tariff rates. There have been and are attempts to promote renewable energy. Biogas and biofuels appear to offer best prospects for renewable energy at a viable rate but solar power is increasingly popular. A combination where excess heat from production of electricity is used to purify (sea) water would fit any island community.

India Opportunities In many countries access to drinking water is limited and of variable quality as in the case based on information from our Indian collaborator:

1. Municipal Water Municipal water, while connected to most urban homes, is highly unreliable. It is not even available to villages and small towns. (Roughly 50% of the population is off-grid). In larger cities, the availability of water is driving costs higher. Typically, a single family that uses about 3000 litres a month (about 20 l/day for drinking related purposes) will pay a water bill of 14 to 21 € per month. (Approximately 0,023 – 0,035 € per liter for the drinking water.)

2. Private simple purifiers Simple purifiers, that are most common, are based on Ultra or Nano filtration technologies. The most popular ones at present are PureIt - from Unilever India (called Hindustan Lever) and Tata Swach - from Tata Chemicals. Price ranges from 14 € to 56 €. These do not use electricity and are considered good for sur-face water. They dominate the market today. Assuming that one of these filters have a life before replacement of three months and produce 20 litres per day during this time, the water cost is 14/20/90 = 0,007 or 56/20/90 = 0,03 € per liter.

3. Private Reverse Osmosis RO systems cost about 168 € to 224 € plus yearly replacement cost of 21€. Popular amongst the high end cities and high end homes and growing at about 40% growth rate (as economics is improving in the country). Not counting electricity costs, the cost per liter assuming a two year replacement period would be from 168 + 21 / 2 x 360 x 20 = 0,013 to 224 + 21 / 2 x 360 x 20 = 0,017 €/liter.

4. Bottled water in small containers Bottled water in small portable containers is used for out-of-home (usually travel). These bot-tles cost about 0.14 € to 0.21 € per 1 liter size.


5. Bottled water in large containers Bottled water in large (20 l) bottles are very commonly used at homes and offices, as a substi-tute for water purifiers. These bottles cost about 0.56 € to 0.84 per 20 l. (0.028 - 0.04 € per l.) There is a huge amount of corruption in this segment as customers do not know how to check for the purity. Still, this segment is also growing at 25% or more per year.

6. Comments In rural India, well water and other rain runoff water is used for various purposes including drinking. Surface water is nearing crisis situation in many of the rural locations and villagers are resorting to simple methods like boiling and/or ultra-filters.

UAE Opportunities The following is based on information from our collaborator in UAE:

1. Municipal water supply: In UAE the average daily domestic consumption of water is estimated to be ranging from 350 - 550 l/person. People residing in flats consume 170 - 200l/person/day whereas villa dwellers consume 270 to 1760 l/person/day.

The water demand in UAE is fulfilled through the municipal waters supplied by local authori-ties. They treat the brackish groundwater (72% of total demand), desalinate salt water (21% of total demand) and distribute to the end users. Assuming an average consumption of 500 l/day at a price of AED 5 per person, the average bill for a family of four members will be 150 AED/month (30 €). The cost per liter is then 30 / 500 / 30 = 0,002 € / liter.

2. Private water purifiers The market for simple water purifiers is not well established in UAE for two reasons

a. People mostly depend upon bottled water for drinking

b. Local municipal waters could be consumed directly with simple filtration

Systems range in cost from 20 € for a simple filter to 200 € for more advanced systems. These may include cartridge filters, carbon filters and units that use ultraviolet light to kill harmful bacteria. Assuming that one of these filters have a life before replacement of three months and produce 20 litres per day during this time, the water cost is 20/20/90 = 0,01 or 200/20/90 = 0,1 € per liter.

3. Private RO systems Private RO units are not so popular among urban domestic dwellers. Big families, small scale industries, labour camps, rural areas, hotels use brackish water RO units. Cost of the units de-pends upon the capacity.

4. Bottled water in large containers Bottled water industry is huge in UAE (1.2 billion litres per year). Around 60% of the bottled water is consumed by homes and offices using 20 l containers. The cost of each bottle varies between 1 – 2 €. (0.05 – 0.1 € per l.)


Typical family consumes 20 l/day and thus monthly bill would be between 30 and 60 €.

5. Bottled water in small containers Typically used for travelling, in restaurants and in functions (parties). These constitute remain-ing 40% of bottled water consumption. 1 liter bottle will cost 0.2 € for local manufactured bot-tles and it would be more for imported bottles.

6. Comment 7% of total water demand is met with retreated water (mostly used for irrigation and in indus-tries) and since there are no surface waters, rapid depletion of aquifer waters leads to rapid growth of desalination industry.


Cost

The manufacturing cost of an add-on with a capacity of 500 litres will be 400 €. Assuming that all other installation is absorbed by the heating system, solar heater, generator or the like that it is fitted to, the full capital cost will also be 400 €. A full system that does not depend on an-other installation will cost 1 500 €. (This system will also produce hot water as an extra bene-fit.) The price to consumer may be calculated from three to five times the manufacturing cost to cover marketing, distribution and profit, i.e. 1 200 – 2 500 € for the add-on and 4 500 – 7 500 € for the full systems. Assuming two years depreciation the amount of water produced will be 500 x 360 x 2 = 360 000 liter, which means a capital cost of 1 200 – 2 500 / 360 000 = 0.003 – 0.007 € for the add-on and 4 500 – 7 500 / 360 000 = 0, 0125 – 0, 02 € for the complete system. Assuming a consumer price for electricity of 10 €cent per kWh, the cost of electricity for pump-ing is 0, 0005 x 0.1 = 0, 00005 € per liter. This cost is the same both for add-ons and complete systems. The total cost of water from ELIXIR 500 is thus 0, 00305 – 0, 00705 € per liter for add-ons and 0, 01255 - 0, 02005 € per liter for full systems. The range is thus 0, 00305 – 0, 02005 €. For the sake of a general comparison, this means between 3, 05 and 20, 05 per cubic metre, while best practice cost for large scale desalination is 0, 5 – 1, 5 €. Obviously the water cost for an ELIXIR 500 is higher than municipal desalination. On the other hand, distribution of large plant desalinated water comes also with a cost, and it is generally unfit to drink without further purification. The cost of water in using an ELIXIR 50 would be even higher. With a 400% sales margin it could be approximated as 500 / 360 000 = 0.014 € per liter. However, this should be compared to always having bottled water at hand at home – and bottled water that is purer and safer than what can be obtained in the store.


Summary of costs

Typical cost €/liter

tap water 0.002 – 0.035

water purified by simple filters 0.007 – 0.1

water purified by advanced filter 0.013 - 0.017

bottled water 0. 04 – 0. 28

ELIXIR 500 water 0.003 – 0.02

ELIXIR 50 water 0.014

Lowest and highest price in € per litre.

NOTE that the spread of prices reflect prices in some of the world’s poorest communities (in India) to some of the richest (in UAE). It also shows that the need for pure water is universal.

Lately there has been much discussion in Europa end the USA about banning bottled water. The argument goes that bottled water is so much more expensive than ordinary tap water. But high quality water – even bottled water - comes at a good price considering that it is the most important human food and in the back of our minds we all know that tap water often contains contaminants. In Sweden, as country with a cold climate and large water resources, the Gov-ernment has calculated that half of all annual intestinal disorders are caused by tap water – the other haft by contaminated food. In a country with hot climate and scarce water re-sources, good municipal tap water is an impossible equation.

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0,15

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tap water water purifiedby simple

filters

water purifiedby advanced

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bottled water ELIXIR 500water

ELIXIR 50 water


Strategy

HVR would, in the main, offer modules as add-ons for a variety of products. This requires:

1 Getting the first products to the market in co-operation with existing JV-partners. 2 Developing additional products for additional markets. 3 Securing additional JVs for the identified products and markets.

Advantages of ELIXIR 500

1. Absolute purity 2. Reliable check for purity 3. Minimal energy cost 4. No other running costs


Appendixes

Water purification technologies Plant flow diagram for generator Comprehensive plan to eradicate arsenic poisoning Peak water peak food Peak water more likely threat than peak oil Future water systems

WATER PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGIES

Activated carbon traps most organics inexpensive easy to install and operate frequent replacements

Cross-flow filtration removes silt inexpensive easy to install and operate frequent replacements

Water softener replaces calcium with sodium easy to install and operate frequent replacements no purification effect

Iron filter removes rust easy to install and operate no purification effect

Magnetic filters modifies calcium to prevent scaling easy to operate and maintain inexpensive no purification effect

Ultra-violet lamps kills bacteria easy to operate and maintain frequent replacements Needs cleaning Creates by-products

Ion-exchange cartridges removes ions inexpensive frequent replacement of cartridges

Electro-dialysis removes ions easy to operate expensive

Distillation removes almost everything efficient difficult to operate needs frequent maintenance

Low pressure reverse osmosis removes almost everything easy to operate poor performance frequent replacements

Ozone Kills bacteria Disintegrates organics Easy to operate Needs maintenance Creates by-products

Chlorine Kills bacteria Easy to use Poisonous Creates by-products

High pressure reverse osmosis removes almost everything easy to operate efficient requires good maintenance and pre-treatmentexpensive frequent replacements

Ceramic filter Removes silt Removes some organics and heavy-metals Easy to install and operate Frequent replacement

MEMBRANE DISTILLATION removes everything easy to operate dependable requires descaling no replacements

VAPORISATION removes volatiles kills bacteria, virus and parasites easy to operate no replacements

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Comprehensive plan to eradicate arsenic poisoning Arsenic poisoning Bangladesh is the worst human poisoning disaster in history, according to WHO, and afflicts tens of millions of people. In spite of a decade of research and plans by the Government in Bangladesh and the international community, no first‐rate method for removing the arsenic from water in rural communities has been found nor has there been devised an af‐ordable cure for the many different illnesses that are caused by the poisoning. For more infor‐fmation on the topic, please visit www.sustainablefuture.se Herby we present a plan to remove arsenic completely from the water that is used for drinking and to cure the people who have already been afflicted.

To treat the water Scarab and Grameen Shakti have designed a water purifying system that will provide affordable arsenic free water in an easily managed way. In December 2011, the Swedish international co‐operation agency Sida has granted research money to the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology to study the implementation of the system proposed.

Sustainable energy and water for a village

2

Water treatment for a single household

To cure the people The special formula

The Swedish Sustainability Foundation has supported the nutraceuticals firm Viola Vitalis to develop a cure for arsenic poisoning and to devise a method to reach the afflicted people through mobile clinics. After many years of strenuous ork Viola Vitals has received approval for the medicine and will set up manu‐acturing facilities in Bangladesh wf

Awareness and cure ess suffering, lower cost for illness and more productivity will contribute immensely to the ocieties that are presently afflicted. Ls Swedish Sustainability Foundation, March 2012

Peak water? Agriculture used to mean unexciting investments in commodities. Now Silicon Valley, for instance NewSeed Advisors and KPCB, are looking for the “next great idea” in farming efficiency. It’s Agriculture 2.0, a.k.a. “ag” app. At the same time companies like Goldman Sachs and several sovereign funds are investing in agricultural land. Why is this!? Populations grow, living standards grow, water supply declines, productive land is in short supply. One of the consequences is that the share of irrigated land is increasing. About one fifth of present world agriculture already depends on irrigation. According to International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) “about 20% of irrigation worldwide, producing 40% of the food supply, is dependent upon groundwater”. Other sources say that half the water used for irrigation is surface water and the other half is ground water. This means that a large part of global food production depends on non-renewable fossil water. A well-known example of fossil groundwater is the Ogallala Aquifer situated under the “corn basket” in the Mid West of the US. This huge underground lake presently supplies close to 30 percent of the irrigated land in the US and it is drying up. Ever since large scale irrigation began some decades ago, water levels in the aquifer have fallen 10 to 20 meters and according to some estimates it may dry up entirely in as little as 25 years. Much other water used for irrigation is also – not technically, but practically - non-renewable. Some rivers have already dried up. Many lakes are at risk. Overuse has already taken its toll. The best known example is the Aral Sea which has decreased to half in size, fallen 19 meters and had its salinity tripled. Even at some places where ground water is replenished profusely by annual rains, water tables are falling because of irrigation. This may ultimately make the groundwater in such locations unfit for irrigation because of sea water intrusion and/or upward diffusion of deeper (fossil) saline water. Groundwater depletion and surface water depletion commonly leads to salinization. But also normal irrigation, especially with ground water, adds salts to the soil because, unlike rain, both surface and ground water contain minerals. Irrigated soils are therefore slowly becoming more saline. Up to a point, salinity is no problem. After a while, the choice of crops becomes limited and in the end the soil may become barren. Pollution also reduces the amount of water that can be used for irrigation - Love Canal and Citarum River are well known examples. On top of it all, farmers who today use 70

2

percent of the world’s fresh water are facing increasing competition for water from industrial users. The world population has grown from less than 2 billion one hundred years ago to more than six billion today. Billions who are still undernourished push towards a passable living standard. Other billions strive to increase their basic living standards. The amount of water needed per kilogram of potatoes has been calculated to 160 litre, corn 450, milk 900, wheat 1200, soybean 2300, rice 2700, chicken 2800, eggs 4700, cheese 5300, pork 5900 and beef 16000. (World Water Council). Food sufficiency in the future will require an increase in water supply. Some of it will be secured by re-use and some from desalination of sea-water. That’s why there is a present boom in the water industry where mammoth players like GE, Siemens, Veolia and many others are in fierce competition and many start-ups emerge. October 7, 2010 Aapo Sääsk www.scarab.se, [email protected] Direct: +46735 032 475 Skype: scarabaapo

Peak water more likely threat than peak oil Water usage will influence the business of future energy production as much as carbon output, according to Lux Research The immediate need to reduce carbon emissions has dominated public debate around clean energy production. But the singular focus on carbon has distracted from energy’s growing impact on the planet’s dwindling water sources, according to the latest report from Lux Research. The report, titled “Global Energy: Unshackling Carbon from Water,” observes that while new energy sources and extraction methods may reduce carbon intensity – kilograms of CO2 emitted per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of useful energy – they often impose increased water usage. • Coal and natural gas electricity sources will continue to dominate in the near term. But expect to see more retrofits and upgrades of existing facilities to make them more water and/or energy efficient. Representative solutions include boiler water treatments, like electrocoagulation, advanced ion exchange and membrane electrolysis, as well as dry condensers and cooling tower water recapture. • Conventional fossil fuels remain leaders for the next few decades, but expect new extraction technologies. Exploitation of oil sands and improved deep sea extraction will continue to make oil the cheapest, if dirtiest, source of energy for automotive drivetrains. But water recycling technologies like desalination and hydrocarbon recovery could reduce the water- and carbon-intensity of oil extraction from new sources like the tar sands. • Alternative energy sources will grow rapidly, but remain limited overall. The slow roll-out of transcontinental high-voltage DC transmission lines will hinder low-carbon, low-water energy sources like solar and wind. Biofuels use far too much water and are capable of providing too little energy to make up more than a few percent of global needs. • The future may belong to advanced nuclear electricity. Nuclear is the only low-carbon, low-cost energy source that can reliably meet future electricity needs – but water is its Achilles’ heel. However, advanced designs promise to increase efficiency and reduce water intensity, while placing plants on the coasts decouples them from increasingly scarce fresh water sources. Without a clear perspective on the trade-offs between carbon, water and other factors that this report covers, executives risk making short-sighted business decisions, particularly if they are expanding into global economies like India or China where water is a comparatively rare resource. Clients subscribing to the Lux Water Intelligence service receive ongoing research on water industry market trends and forecasts, continuous technology scouting reports and proprietary data points in the weekly Lux Research Water Journal, and on-demand inquiry with Lux Research analysts. www.luxresearchinc.com Edited by Scarab 2009-09-05

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Future water systems

Introduction The long experiment of supplying drinking water through water mains and taps in individual houses and apartments worked fairly well for some time in sparsely populated temperate cli-mates where there was abundance of clean fresh water. It has, however, never been a really good option in tropical, densely populated areas with limited water resources. Now also in more water fortunate areas, raw water is deteriorating and water mains are break-ing down. It is more and more difficult to supply high-quality drinking water and, in any case, less and less people are willing to risk their health by drinking disinfected all-purpose water, because disin-fection by its very nature creates by-products (DBPs) that are known to have negative long term effects on health. In most countries, the ones who can afford it buy dedicated drinking water in bottles or other containers. Some even produce their own drinking water by treating the tap water with various devices. Just as industry increasingly demands different qualities of water for different purposes, so will communities. Drinking and eating will be one specification, bathing and showering anoth-er, washing another and agriculture another. In planning water supply one has to take these developments into consideration.

Present trends in water supply in the EU and the US Deteriorating tap water systems

A report in February 2002 from Harvard School of Public Health shows that the renovation of US municipal water systems needed to prevent waste water to get into the drinking water would cost 141 billion US dollars. An expensive proposition which, by the may, is not enough in itself to secure that the water can be universally trusted for drinking. The situation is similar in all coun-tries where large municipal underground water purification systems have been built. In spite of modern equipment, labour cost has risen considerably for digging underground. Therefore, municipal authorities are reluctant to renovate mains unless there is a significant leak. They do not even bother to repair smaller leaks and typically 20 – 80 percent of the water is lost in transport from the purification plants. Although all cities are making minor improvements in the distribution system from time to time, there is no room in any city's budget to revamp the entire water piping system. Normally with the present patching of pipes it would take centuries to renovate the whole system. And even if one were to speed up the work to renovate the system, residual disinfectants will always be needed to protect the water from biological contamination. Also sewage pipes leak, and are even less repaired and thus the ground in most cities is seeped with sewage and there is a terrible stench each time there is an excavation. The sewage may find its way into the fresh water pipes. This is one of several reasons why disinfection is needed.

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Science discovers new contaminants and their effects

There is a strong resistance among water works against new regulations. One reason is that some contaminants, like disinfection by-products, simply cannot be avoided, while others, like arsenic and some microbes like Cryptosporidium, Helicobacter Pylori and Naegleria are almost impossible to get rid of. Recently it has been calculated that adding arsenic removal to a municipal plant may increase the water cost to consumers by several hundred percent. This I why there has been such a strong debate over the new arsenic regulations in the US. What happens, the utilities think, when another similar regulation is to be followed – another 100 percent increase or more? However, the consumers led by consumer advocate groups will naturally demand more and more safety in the tap water as science constantly increases our knowledge of the effects of con-taminants – not only acute effects such as death and diarrhoea, but also the long term effects such as stomach ulcers, cancers, neurological disorders and probably also illnesses such as Alz-heimer’s and Parkinson’s. The situation will be untenable for the water utilities. Therefore water treatment professionals make a great effort in marketing Point-of-Entry systems. However, the Point-of-Entry systems that remove all potential contaminants are today so complicated and require such expert maintenance that their use is prohibitive if failure is not an option. What remains is bottled wa-ter and fail safe point of use equipment. Dedicated drinking water

Consequently, more and more people are buying bottled water or buying their own point-of-use water purifiers. Although it is a probable development that each house or each apartment will have its own designated drinking water purifier, this development will take decades. On an in-ternational scale, the bottled water market, which is presently growing with 20% each year, will therefore continue to increase in this extremely rapid pace in the foreseeable future. Traditional bottled water has developed from the luxury product mineral/spring water and is very expensive. In Europe, known brands may cost 1 000 times more than tap water, i.e. around the equivalent of 1 € per liter and the cheapest brands will cost at least 200 times more than tap water, i.e. the equivalent of 0.2 € per liter. In considering new water systems one should start investigating the possibility of manufactur-ing and distributing highest class drinking water in a rational way. The manufacturing cost of the water will not be more than the equivalent of 0.002 € per liter. Consumer cost will depend on which distribution system is chosen. According to a recent study by Stanford University, the normal water intake of surveyed citizens in a tropical climate (Bangladesh) is 3 liters per day but shows variations up to 6 liter per day. Both figures are surprisingly low. We believe for planning purposes 5 - 15 liters per day and person for drinking and cooking would be a good target as regards dedicated drinking water. For this limited amount of water the absolutely best water purification technologies are feasible and rational. Water for drinking and cooking should then be distributed in containers like any liquid food and not in pipes. An alternative is of course Point-of-Use purification in the kitchen.

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Reuse of hygiene water.

During at least half a century there has been a development for reducing the environmental im-pact of industrial effluents. In recent years, efforts are also made to reduce the volume of effluent by reuse of water. Another step ahead and Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) will become the norm. Even though a ZLD system can be designed to make even purer water than what is commonly delivered on tap, there is a resistance to use it for drinking water. Just the thought of drinking something that has been manufactured from one’s own sewage is distasteful for most people. However, combined with a dedicated drinking water system, a ZLD will be perfect for manufac-turing of all-purpose water.

According to the UN, total per capita need of all-purpose water in a household is 100 liter per day. In Sweden the average use is 380 liter per day. In the US it is higher. A good target might be 400 liters per day per capita. Co-generation

To meet these demands Scarab Development has developed a co-generation system based on low temperature distillation by membrane distillation technology. The equipment can be used both to manufacture dedicated drinking water and re-circulate all purpose water. The system runs on waste heat from power plants. The world average annual per capita energy consumption is approximately 65 GigaJoul which equals 18 000 kWh or 50 kWh per day. Most of this energy is produced in thermal processes and creates at least a similar amount of waste heat. In a low temperature distillation process, this waste can be used for purification of water. Assuming that only half of all energy processes are thermal and that only half of the waste heat these processes produce is used, the waste heat produced per capita will be enough to manufacture an international average of several hundred liters of absolutely pure water per capita per day. Availability of waste heat will of course vary from location to location, but, in many areas of the world, this type of co-generation is the best option for a good future water supply. Technology for such purpose has been developed during the last 10 years by Scarab Development AB in co-operation with the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, and a first test of com-mercial grade equipment has started in 2006 at a power plant in Sweden. Aapo Sääsk 2006-05 09

elixir 500 - hvr...elixir is originally developed as an electrical appliance for small households...

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