Decisions on reduction of drinking resources in the world were discussed within the forum Atomexpo-2017, which is held in Moscow on June 19-21. Representatives of the largest companies of the market of water preparation and desalination, leading experts, as well as domestic manufacturers of equipment reviewed the current situation in the world with water supply to the population and industry, the best country cases for the development of water purification and desalination systems, mechanisms for cooperation and interaction between companies and authorities.
To date, the total water volume on earth is 140 million cubic kilometers and only 2.5% of them are fresh. And 70% of this volume is glaciers, 29% - various underground waters, access to which is difficult and only 1% - rivers and lakes of which basically water is taken.
Today, in many countries of Africa, the Middle East and Asia fresh water is a deficit, and in the medium term the number of such territories will increase. In particular, according to Roland Berger’s forecasts, by 2050 the demand for water will grow by more than 30%, and at least 50% of the population will live in areas with limited access to clean water. In connection with this, there will be a growing need for its production by artificial means with the help of desalination complexes, sewage treatment systems, water purification and water preparation. "We note a steady increase in the total installed capacity of desalination plants in the world. In particular, it increased from 6 million m3 of water per day in 1980 to 63 million cubic meters of water in 2010 and 87 m3 of water in 2016. And by 2020, it is projected that the total capacity of desalination systems will be about 127 million cubic meters of water per day, "noted project manager of company Denis Borisov.
Israel's unique experience in dealing with water shortages was presented by the Director of the course department in Russian at the International Center for Agriculture of the Foreign Ministry of Israel Yuri Osiransky. The average annual volume of renewable water resources in this country is 1.5 billion cubic meters. At the same time, Israel's total water demand is estimated at about 2.1 billion cubic meters today and is constantly growing. Back to the beginning of the 2000s, in the event of a drought at the state level, restrictions were introduced in the volumes of water consumption, various economic and social measures were taken to stimulate the inhabitants of the country, industrial and agricultural enterprises led to savings water resources. Today, the country fully meets all the needs for water and can even supply it to neighboring countries.
This happened including by the development of a sewage treatment system and the construction of a complex of plants desalting the water of the Mediterranean Sea. In particular, today more than 90% of all sewage in the country is processed, and then used for agricultural needs, which provides half of the water sector's needs for this sector. Also, as a result of the construction of five large desalination complexes, the problem of providing drinking water to the population was completely solved. To date, about 60% of Israel’s drink water obtained by desalination and meets all the necessary requirements for the quality and content of minerals.
At the same time, the participants of the round table noted the high interrelation between the development of desalination and water treatment technologies having high energy intensity, with the development of the energy infrastructure. In particular, to date, in the world practice, 10-15 percent of desalination plants are built immediately in conjunction with a thermal or other power plant. In this regard, Rosatom has formed a proposal that includes the design and construction of a desalination plant with a capacity of up to 170,000 m3 / day in integration with high-capacity nuclear power plant or TPS. The complex can work on hybrid technology, that is, to combine the thermal and membrane method of desalination.
"We have extensive experience in manufacturing water treatment plants for nuclear power plants, thermal power plants, water treatment plants for industry. Also, our enterprises have references in the field of design and construction of the desalination complex in integration with the nuclear power plant. It was received in Kazakhstan and it is the only similar project in the world. Although the nuclear power plant has been shut down, the desalination plant continues to work on the replacement thermal generation, "said Ksenia Sukhotina, First Deputy of General Director of JSC “Atomenegomash” for Strategy and Organizational Development. Among the advantages of such integration, she noted the optimization of capital and operating costs, the sharing of infrastructure, the possibility of obtaining fresh water to meet the needs of the NPP, the modularity of the structure, the lack of the need for significant changes in the design of the NPP.
International forum “ATOMEXPO” is held annually on the initiative of State Corporation “Rosatom” and established itself as the largest international exhibition and business platform to discuss modern state of the nuclear industry, form trends of its further development. This year the main theme of the forum is "Nuclear technology – safety, environment, stability". Business program "ATOMEXPO 2017" was supplemented by extensive exhibition featuring over 90 leading companies in the global nuclear industry and related industries who will demonstrate their technology solutions and products. The Russian nuclear industry will present more than 40 enterprises of the state Corporation "Rosatom", including: JSC "Concern Rosenergoatom", the Fuel company of Rosatom "TVEL", JSC "Atomenergomash" Group of companies "ASE", JSC "RASU", Uranium holding ARMZ, FSUE "PO "Mayak", FSUE "GXK", JSC "Techsnabexport", JSC "RusAtom Overseas", JSC "RusAtom, Healthcare". Also, leading foreign companies and organizations will represent their exhibitions – the atomic energy Commission and alternative energy (France), Rolls-Royce (UK), China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC, China), NAC Kazatomprom (Kazakhstan), AREVA NP and Schneider Electric (both - France), L-3 MAPPS (Canada), TAIM-WESER (Spain), Fortum (Finland), as well as companies from the Republic of Korea, Turkey, Slovakia, Italy and other countries. In 2016, the forum was visited by over 5000 people from 55 countries – a record number in the history of the forum. Participants of business program were representatives of the 650 companies and organizations. The economic potential of the agreements and memorandums signed in the framework of “ATOMEXPO 2016”, is estimated at $ 10 billion.