Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development

Sustainable clean water through solar-powered desalination for water-scarce islands and coastal regions (SDG: 2, 3, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14)

    Description
    Intro

    Fresh water, there's no life without it. It's part of everything we do. Unfortunately, already 4 billion people face water scarcity. By harnessing the infinite supply of resources from the sea and sun, Elemental Water Makers developed a decentralized solar-powered desalination solution that offers a sustainable and affordable drinking water supply for the people of La Union in the Philippines. In partnership with a local partner, a containerized desalination unit was installed, which now serves as a water-kiosk that sells affordable, high-quality drinking water to a local population otherwise reliant on more expensive and less sustainable water sources.

    Objective of the practice

    The goal of Elemental Water Makers is to solve fresh water scarcity, using only the sea, sun, earth & wind. The objective of Elemental Water Makers is to provide off-grid solar desalination solutions to people living along coastal regions or on islands that are currently unable to sustainably meet their water needs. By combining tech-driven desalination solutions that use the earth and sun’s ample resources, with a people-cantered approach that caters to local needs and ensures independent operation and maintenance, resilient and sustainable water solutions can provide affordable clean water. This directly contributes to the availability and sustainable management of water (SDG6) and the sustainable use of marine resources (SDG14). Specifically, for archipelagos and small island developing states (SIDS) elemental water makers can provide water resilience to adapt to climate change and drought events/disasters. Countries like the Philippines are at the forefront of climate change, with drought occurring more frequently and fresh water sources running dry. Many positive spill-over effects also stem from the acceleration SDG6. For instance, increasing availability and affordability of water reduces the time and money spent on securing water from alternative sources, which is a task often entitled to women and children. Since women and children are now able to easily collect water, their increased available time can be spent on education and self-development, thereby promoting gender equality and time spent on education. Furthermore, ensuring a high-quality drinking water standard decreases the chances of contracting preventable water-related diseases such as diarrhea and cholera and generally contributes to healthy lives and well-being (SDG3). The availability of clean water also promotes local economic development as a reliable water supply enables the exploitation of soil for agriculture where rainfall was previously a bottleneck. Additionally, increasing water availability allows local entrepreneurs to sell water to households and industries (SDG8), which together, makes settlements in remote areas more resilient to the increasing pressure on existing fresh water sources due to climate change and population growth (SDG 11& 14). Economic development is especially relevant for a country with particularly high rates of unemployment (17%), particularly in rural areas (60%), while a large portion (about a third of employment) of labour is active in sectors requiring fresh water, namely agriculture (Central Intelligence Agency, 2018; The Economist, 2017)

    Partners
    In order to guarantee project sustainability and generate local economic and social benefits, Elemental Water Makers partnered with a local organisation, a Manila-based search fund that invests in technology driven solutions enabling positive social and environmental impact in developing markets. As the local partner is focused on expanding its portfolio to include water technology, and in return provide access to information regarding local markets, regulatory compliance requirements, local financing options and governance structures. This expertise was found to be fully complimentary to the expertise of Elemental Water Makers, which led to a fruitful interdependent partnership.
    Results/Outputs/Impacts
    As a result of the partnership between Elemental Water Makers and the local partner, a water kiosk was constructed that continues to sell high-quality water at a market competitive rate. The water production facility produces a continues supply of 11m3/day of freshwater. The desalination method used mitigates the production of 11 tons of CO2 per year and has enabled the local users to become self-reliant. Training of local staff by the local partner and Elemental Water Makers has fostered a more resilient and sustainable water source for the local communities, which now enjoy additional benefits associated with the increased availability and affordability of water. Since water is a part of everyday life, its unavailability directly limits local (economic) development, both at household level and at regional level, wherein business development is dependent on the availability of water. The introduction of the water kiosk has, thus empowered the employees of the kiosk with knowledge and a reliable income, has reduced the water collection time and costs (43% costs saved) previously associated with the locals’ task of securing water, further supporting economic development, and has benefitted the health of the inhabitants of La Union, due to reliable high-quality drinking water standards.
    Enabling factors and constraints
    The success of a project is determined by the degree of local inclusion. Since limitations are often local through regulatory issues in the public field or water permits, having a strong partnership with a local organization promotes the success and ease of implementing and completing a project. In the case of the water kiosk for the inhabitants of La Union, a mutual interest shared between both parties helped foster a successful project. The local partner focuses on investing in disruptive technologies that cater to basic needs and were seeking to expand their portfolio to water technology. However, the local partner lacked the in-depth knowledge required for selection, design, preparation, installation and operation & maintenance. On the other hand, Elemental Water Makers are stocked with technological know-how and expertise, and offer a robust desalination solution, but are challenged in finding funding for relatively small-scale projects (below water production of 100 m3/day) since in these projects the capital expenditure for the renewable energy aspects of the utility are a barrier to otherwise cheaply produced water. By matching the pro-active interest of the local partner in Elemental Water Makers, with an eager attitude of Elemental Water Makers to extend its activities to the Philippines, (a geography that is in-line with Elemental Water Makers’ growth strategy) mutual commitment supported a fruitful partnership. Therefore, the main constraints preventing the construction of a water kiosk in the Philippines were eliminated through a partnership in which both partners seamlessly complemented their counterparts’ shortcomings.
    Sustainability and replicability
    When one combines the endless supply of sea water found at the intersection of coast and sea, with the off-grid energy supply realized through use of solar cells and batteries/gravity, the opportunities for scaling up are endless. Combining this with the fact that global desalination rates reach 80 million m3/day, and have been growing by 10-20% annually, an opportunity arises in which the abundance of sea water and solar power can fulfill the existing and future needs of water scarce islands and coastal regions. Particularly urgent is the increasing pressure on fresh water resources on small island developing states (SIDS), which face increasing challenges of pollution, over-exploitation of surface, ground and coastal waters, saline intrusion, drought and water scarcity. This makes the need for Elemental Water Makers’ desalination solutions especially relevant and fit for region-wide adoption. By mitigating the fossil energy associated with reverse osmosis technologies used by conventional desalination systems, and by adopting energy recovery principles, Elemental Water Makers uses three times less energy to desalinate 1 m3 of water in comparison to conventional desalination installations. Continuous water supply without the need for batteries is facilitated by using a water buffer at elevation, which is filled by pumping up using solar energy and waste energy recovered from reverse osmosis. The use of renewable energy, independence from fossil energy, and high-regard for waste water treatment together foster high environmental sustainability while contributing to local social and economic sustainability, which become evident in the case of the Philippine Water Kiosk project. The Philippines Water Kiosk produces 11 m3/day of fresh water, leading to a 43% reduction in CO2 emissions (11 t/year), which are produced to an affordable rate (from 1.3$/m3) that is highly competitive to the tariff for the only alternative water source on which the people are currently dependent: lacking an alternative, the people currently pay 6$/m3 for fresh water of questionable quality in non-continuous supply, which is delivered by truck and forces people to spend the majority of their income on their basic need for water. This water-kiosk solution allows a 75% water cost savings that amounting to $300.000 and a pay back time within two and a half years. Cost-savings on household level greatly contribute to social and economic sustainability as they allow households to spend the money typically associated to high water costs on other basic human needs. Moreover, the fact that a continuous water supply is now guaranteed negates the need for households to spend unforeseen amounts of time and money to suffice their right to clean and affordable water through alternative sources. Further contributing to the social sustainability is the fact that Elemental Water Makers always guarantees operation and maintenance that can be met using local personnel, expertise and materials. This is fostered by partnering with local organizations in the effort to train local staff members, whom are taught to independently operate, maintain, distribute and sell water. Through their training, local personnel become economically empowered and their employment contributes to local economic and social development.
    Conclusions

    Fresh water is a prerequisite for sustainable development anywhere across the globe, making it a fundamental challenge that deserves global attention. While certain regions are fortunate to enjoy considerable time before current freshwater resources become scarce, other geographies such as remote coastal regions and SIDS are on the verge of critical levels of freshwater scarcity, limiting viability of livelihoods, let alone sustainable (economic) development. For the population of La Union, Luzon in the Philippines, the above challenges were significantly mitigated due to an innovative, renewables driven, decentralized solar desalination solutions provided by Elemental Water Makers and a local partner. The rural population, previously dependent on unsustainable and expensive ($6/m3) water sources of questionable quality, are now able to access high-quality drinking water at highly market-competitive rate of (1.3$/m3) while also reducing CO2 emission by 43%, equivalent to savings 11 tons of CO2/year. Apart from mitigating the direct pressure on fresh water resources, additional benefits arose out of the fact local populace took ownership of a water kiosk. The water kiosk is a symbol for the newly gained economic and ecological resilience, which was acquired through independent economic exploitation of a water kiosk, offering opportunities related to economic development and consequently that of self-development, especially for women and children. Through close collaboration with a local partner organization, local ownership was fostered, project implementation was done according to local governance and compliances, access to local resources was facilitated and ultimately operation and management remains in hands of the local population. The above impacts have made the water kiosk project a success, provides evidence for the promise and potential of renewable decentralized desalination solutions for remote/rural communities and provides inspiration for future ‘glocal’ partnerships promoting freshwater resources.

    N/A
    Resources
    Other, please specify
    All finances, training and in-kind contributions required for realisation of the project were shared between both project partners.
    No progress reports have been submitted. Please sign in and click here to submit one.
    False
    Name Description
    14.7 By 2030, increase the economic benefits to Small Island developing States and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism
    Action Network
    SDG Good Practices First Call
    This initiative does not yet fulfil the SMART criteria.
    Share
    FacebookTwitterLinkedIn
    Timeline
    09 February 2017 (start date)
    09 February 2037 (date of completion)
    Entity
    Elemental Water Makers
    SDGs
    Region
    1. Asia and Pacific
    Geographical coverage
    La Union, Luzon, Philippines
    Photos
    Sustainable clean water through solar-powered desalination for water-scarce islands and coastal regions (SDG: 2, 3, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14) Sustainable clean water through solar-powered desalination for water-scarce islands and coastal regions (SDG: 2, 3, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14) Sustainable clean water through solar-powered desalination for water-scarce islands and coastal regions (SDG: 2, 3, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14)
    Website/More information
    N/A
    Countries
    N/A
    Contact Information

    Sid Vollebregt, Managing Director