1. Desalination in the Netherlands and Beyond Emily Tenenbaum January 27 th 2011

2. Outline  Intro to Voltea & Capacitive Deionization  Overview of Freshwater Scarcity in Europe  Freshwater Scarcity in the Netherlands Desalination for agriculture Desalination for municipal supply Desalination for industry

3. Voltea & CapDI  Founded 2006, Netherlands-based  Spin-off from Unilever  Main activity: Develop and Commercialize Capacitive Deionization technology (CapDI)  40 employees, growing rapidly  CapDI basics Low feedwater pressure Uses ion-exchange membranes Treats tap to brackish water Minimal pretreatment No or little chemical use Low energy use Competitive with RO, EDR, ion exchange Current commercial applications: cooling tower make-up water, residential point-of-entry

4. Water Availability in Europe World Resources Institute Water Stress Atlas, 2000 Desalination Capacity by Country

5. Water Availability in Europe the Netherlands BelgiumFrance Significant freshwater scarcity in Northern Europe

6. Brackish Water in Netherlands Depth of Brackish Water Interface meters below Normal Amsterdam Waterlevel (NAP) to reach [Cl - ] = 1000 mg/L Netherlands area = New Jersey + New Hampshire Growing Problems: Coastal saltwater intrusion caused by depletion of fresh groundwater Inland brackish groundwater

7. Desalination Needs in the Netherlands 1.Agricultural – saltwater intrusion in greenhouse areas 2.Municipal – increasingly brackish surface and groundwater 3.Industrial – Strong financial incentive to reduce industrial water use. Many solutions require desalination Greenhouses near Rotterdam Tulip field near Voltea HQ

8. Desalination for Agriculture in Westland Depth of Brackish Water Interface meters below Normal Amsterdam Waterlevel (NAP) to reach [Cl - ] = 1000 mg/L Westland Region, a.k.a. “Glass City”

9. Desalination for Agriculture in Westland Westland Greenhouse Region  42% Dutch greenhouse sector  ~1% National GDP  Brackish surface and groundwater  Low-efficiency RO systems treat groundwater for greenhouses  Deep injection of brine  Upcoming government ban on brine injection

10. Desalination for Agriculture in Westland Harnaschpolder WWTP Westland Greenhouse Region Problem: brackish water challenge for greenhouses Solution: reuse WWTP effluent for greenhouse irrigation ParameterWWTP Effluent Greenhouse max level [Cl - ]135 mg/L36 mg/L [Na + ]100 mg/L23 mg/L ~75% salt reduction needed

11. Pilot Testing for Wastewater Resuse Long-term pilot testing underway of 3 desalination options:  UF/RO (Evides)  Innovative RO train (Veolia)  CapDI (Voltea) Voltea engineer testing benchtop CapDI units at WWTP Harnaschpolder WWTP Pilot hall at Harnaschpolder WWTP

12. Desal for Municipal Water  Saline water from marine deposit layers and North Sea is seeping into drinking water sources  National drinking water chloride limit is 150 mg/L  Drinking water providers forsee difficulty in meeting the chloride limit  Some drinking water wells already shut down  Drinking water providers exploring brackish water desal options  All projects still in pilot phase Source: Oasen Drinkwater

13. Desal for Municipal Water Voltea Pilot in Rotterdam April - Nov 2011 Test CapDI on groundwater Feed conductivity = 1.5 mS/cm 6 L/min (0.36 m 3 /hr) Oasen drinking water station Results promising! 80% salt removal 70% water recovery 0.4 kWh/m 3 pure Stable operation Oasen interested in large-scale CapDI system as RO alternative Voltea Capacitive Deionization System

14. Desal for Municipal Water PURO Pilot Kickoff 2011 Place RO system 100 m below ground Reduced pumping energy Anerobic process, no iron removal pretreatment needed Major maintenance challenges with underground operation Schematic of PURO pilot in Ridderkerk

15. Desalination for Industrial Water  Dutch tapwater is expensive (€1.75 /m 3 )  Cost incentive for factories to find tapwater alternatives, or reduce tapwater use

16. Desalination for Industrial Water Voltea CapDI in Cooling Towers  Use CapDI to desalinate feedwater to cooling towers  Rabobank HQ in Utrecht  Increase cycles of recirculation in cooling tower from 3 to 14  17% reduction tapwater use  68% reduction wastewater discharge  75% reduction chemical usage (antiscalents, corrosion inhibitors) Capacitive Deionization System at Rabobank HQ. ~2 m 3 /hr capacity Rabobank HQ in Utrecht

17. Take Home Message  Brackish ground and surface water is a growing problem in the Netherlands  Problem affects agriculture, drinking water supply, and industry  Desal will play a increasing role in the Dutch water industry t Typical view from a window in the Netherlands

18. Desalination for Industrial Water Dow Chemical Plant  Evides chosen by Dow to design, build, finance, operate (DBFO) industrial water plant  Location with limited freshwater  Plant produces process water, boiler feed, cooling tower feed, ~3800 m 3 /hr  Demi water initially from seawater RO – major fouling problems (2000-2007 )  2008 switched to MF/RO fed with municipal wastewater  Plan upgrade to membrane bioreactor/RO fed with municipal wastewater Section of water plant at Dow Chemical factory in Terneuzen

19. NaCl Drinking water limitations  Most drinking water is groundwater  Dutch National limits on chloride are <150 ppm, Na <120 ppm  US secondary DW standard is 250 ppm  EU chloride <250 ppm, Na <200 ppm, EC <2500 microS/cm

20. WRI water risk index The 3 dimensions (23 total indicators) of water-related economic risk were determined by WRI in collaboration with industry experts, financial analysts, and water specialists, and include: Access and growth constraints: provides a measure of water risks driven by the physical availability and accessibility of water; Cost risks: capture the cost risks faced by water users due to poor water quality, regulatory uncertainty, or high prices of water and its treatment; and Disruption potential: provides a measure of the tensions and conflicts around water driven by social and regulatory concerns.

21. CapDI – How it Works

22. Desal for Municipal Water Vitens Pilot in Friesland Vitens-largest drinking water supplier in Netherlands Anerobic brackish water RO pilot in Friesland (feed = 2.6 mS/cm) Deep well injection of anerobic brine No antiscalents due to reinjection restrictions 70% recovery Started in 2009 50 m 3 /hr RO equipment in Vitens pilot trailer in Noardburgum, Friesland