Desalination is still a relatively controversial public issue. Most of this controversy revolves around the energy intensity of desalination and concerns over the environmental impacts of brine concentrate and other waste products. The production of data and the application of scientific rigour that provides an independent analysis and assessment of controversial issues associated with desalination would go a long way toward addressing public concerns in a constructive manner. There is an opportunity for research that assists the development of a scientifically informed public awareness program. Widespread deployment of desalination, while dependent on improvements in critical system requirements, will also require attention to environmental impact, social concerns, economic policy, and other non-technical barriers. The Centre’s projects in these areas include:

• Reuse of reverse osmosis membranes, led by Dr Pierre Le-Clech, The University of New South Wales
• Nanostructure of diatoms: A predictive model for species sustainability, led by Dr Sophie Leterme, Flinders University
• Public perception of, and response to, desalination in Australia, led by Dr Tanya King, Deakin University

Reuse of reverse osmosis membranes

The fate of spent reverse osmosis (RO) membranes appears as an emerging challenge faced by the water industry. In this project, alternative and valuable usages of end-of-life desalination membranes will be investigated. Opportunities like cost effective reuse in lower specification applications, potential recycling of valuable materials and conversion of RO into microporous separation devices will be assessed both technically and financially.

Nanostructure of diatoms: A predictive model for species sustainability

The composition of the phytoplankton community and the morphology of the silica frustule of diatoms (i.e., pore diameter and thickness of the silica cell wall) fluctuates depending on environmental conditions. Here we propose to use diatoms as environmental indicators of the impact of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brine discharge on local marine communities and monitor these communities to help manage the entrainment of organisms in SWRO intakes. Our project combines ecological, chemical and molecular expertise to understand the impact of brine discharge on the composition of the microbial community and on the morphological flexibility of the frustules of diatoms and build a model of how the diatoms would react to the discharge. This project creates a unique and effective synergy between cutting‐edge in‐field and experimental approaches that are not commonly used in phytoplankton studies and will significantly expand our understanding of the impact of desalination plants on marine communities.

Public perception of, and response to, desalination in Australia

This integrated social research program will inform the understanding and management of public perception and social aspects of desalination implementation in Australia. It is a collaborative project, led by Deakin University together with Victoria University and Murdoch University. The project will establish a national benchmark on public perceptions of desalination in relation to environmental, technical, water quality and social factors, as well as investigating how water professionals (including desalination experts) and water users currently communicate. The project will survey national attitudes to desalination plant implementation and outcomes in a range of rural and metropolitan regions where plants are operational, under construction, or absent. The result will be a report on national public attitudes to desalination in the context of broader environmental issues of climate change, and rural and regional relationships to government and industry. This part of the project will provide an improved basis for assessing customer satisfaction with perceived changes in water characteristics associated with the introduction of desalination. The investigation will also focus on how information about desalination is transferred among key stakeholders, including the water industry, water industry professionals and the general community, and the information which is perceived to be relevant in each case. The project will provide a comparative case of two desalination plants: one in Wonthaggi, regional Victoria and the other in Kwinana, metropolitan WA.