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Discovery: Desalination

24/12/2008

Desalination

BBC World Service - Discovery, Desalination

Gareth Mitchell investigates desalination.

Gareth Mitchell investigates desalination. 

He visits two new desalination plants, one in Barcelona, the other on the Thames Estuary in England. 

Both plants use a process called 'reverse osmosis' to remove the salt. Water is forced through a membrane at high pressure, separating water molecules from mineral contaminants. 

Gareth talks to Agua Via, an American company that's developing an atomic-scale membrane that works at atmospheric pressure. The membrane is still being developed and has not yet been tested on site. But if it works, the force of gravity would be sufficient to drive the water through the membrane. 

Finding new sources of clean water is only one part of the solution. In the UK, leakage from pipes currently runs at billions of litres a day. 

Gareth watches a demonstration where small rubber bungs called 'platelets' are able to stop leaks. The technology is being developed by Brinker Technology.

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