Emerging Membrane Technology for Sustainable Water Treatment

Emerging Membrane Technology for Sustainable Water Treatment

Nicholas P. Hankins

The Oxford Centre for Sustainable Water Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, The University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Rajindar Singh

Membrane Ventures, LLC, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

List of Contributors

Preface

Section 1. Membrane Processes for Global Water Solutions

Chapter 1. Ethical and Sustainable Utilisation of Water: Global Scenarios and Engineering Responsibilities

1.1. Introduction

1.2. Global Perspectives

1.3. Global Plans

1.4. Engineering Responsibilities

1.5. Membrane Engineering

Chapter 2. Introduction to Membrane Processes for Water Treatment

2.1. Membrane Materials

2.2. Membrane Separation

2.3. Membrane Processes

2.4. Hybrid Membrane Plants

2.5. Membrane Modules

2.6. Membrane Fouling and Control

2.7. Recent Developments and Future Prospects

Section 2. Desalination and Potable Water Purification

Chapter 3. Forward Osmosis for Sustainable Water Treatment

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Draw Solutions

3.3. Membranes and Modules

3.4. Applications of FO

3.5. Conclusions

Chapter 4. Desalination by Membrane Distillation

4.1. Introduction

4.2. Membrane Distillation

4.3. Properties of Saline Aqueous Solutions

4.4. MD Desalination

4.5. Energy Consumption and Costs of MD Desalination

4.6. Conclusions and Future Perspectives in MD

Chapter 5. Sustainable Energy Systems for Seawater Reverse Osmosis Desalination

5.1. Introduction

5.2. Performance Limits

5.3. Performance and Losses in RO Desalination

5.4. Performance of PV Cells and Losses

5.5. RO Systems for Variable-Power Operation

5.6. Thermally Powered RO Systems

5.7. Conclusions and Outlook

List of Abbreviations

Glossary

Chapter 6. Desalination and On-site Energy for Groundwater Treatment in Developing Countries Using Fuel Cells

6.1. Background

6.2. India's Water–Energy Nexus

6.3. FC Technology

6.4. FC Integrated Membrane Desalination

6.5. Zero Liquid Discharge Desalination Processes

6.6. Appropriate Desalination Technology for Remote Regions

6.7. Concluding Remarks

Chapter 7. Ion Exchange Membranes for Water Softening and High-Recovery Desalination

7.1. Ion Exchange Materials and Water Softening

7.2. Donnan Dialysis

7.3. ED for Desalination

7.4. Conclusions

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

Chapter 8. Water Treatment by Electromembrane Processes

8.1. Introduction

8.2. Electrodialysis (ED)

8.3. Electrodeionisation (EDI)

8.4. Capacitive Deionisation (CDI)

8.5. Conclusions and Recommendations

List of Abbreviations

Symbols

Subscripts and Superscripts

Greek Symbols

Section 3. Wastewater Treatment for Reclamation and Reuse

Chapter 9. Removal of Emerging Contaminants for Water Reuse by Membrane Technology

9.1. Introduction

9.2. Membrane Technology for Water Reclamation

9.3. NF/RO Separation

9.4. Other Membrane Processes

9.5. Conclusion

Chapter 10. Surfactant and Polymer-Based Technologies for Water Treatment

10.1. Introduction

10.2. Surfactant-Based Technologies for Water Treatment

10.3. Polymer-Based Technologies for Water Treatment

10.4. Combined Polymer–Surfactant-Based Technologies for Water Treatment

10.5. Characterisation of Micellar Size

10.6. Conclusions

Chapter 11. Submerged and Attached Growth Membrane Bioreactors and Forward Osmosis Membrane Bioreactors for Wastewater Treatment

11.1. Introduction

11.2. Biological and Membrane Filtration Processes in MBR

11.3. Membrane Fouling Classification and Mitigation Approaches

11.4. Development of AMBR

11.5. The Forward Osmosis MBR

Chapter 12. Brine Treatment and High Recovery Desalination

12.1. Introduction

12.2. Energy and Pressure Considerations in High Recovery

12.3. Hybrid Processes to Overcome Salinity Limitations

12.4. Hybrid Processes that Overcome Scaling Problems

12.5. Conclusions

Nomenclature

Greek Symbols

Subscripts

Section 4. New Membrane Materials and Applications

Chapter 13. Development of Hybrid Processes for High Purity Water Production

13.1. Introduction

13.2. Process Technologies

13.3. HPW Applications

13.4. UPW Processes for Advanced Microchips

13.5. Water Reclamation for Reuse

Chapter 14. Biomimetic Membranes for Water Purification and Wastewater Treatment

14.1. Introduction

14.2. Aquaporins

14.3. Biomimetic Membranes and Their Properties

14.4. Summary and Conclusions

Chapter 15. Novel Graphene Membranes – Theory and Application

15.1. Introduction

15.2. Porous Graphene Fluidics – Mass Transport across Porous Graphene

15.3. Mass Transport across Layered Graphene and Graphene Oxide

15.4. Conclusions

Chapter 16. Nanocomposite and Responsive Membranes for Water Treatment

16.1. Introduction

16.2. Responsive Materials

16.3. Nanocomposite Membranes

16.4. Summary

Chapter 17. Membrane Fouling, Modelling and Recent Developments for Mitigation

17.1. Introduction

17.2. Foulants

17.3. Biological Fouling

17.4. Models for Fouling

17.5. Approaches to Mitigate Fouling

17.6. Concluding Remarks

Index

Copyright

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List of Contributors

Catalina Alvarado,     Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA

Özgür Arar,     Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey

Dibakar Bhattacharyya,     Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

W. Richard Bowen,     FREng, i-NewtonWales, Swansea, UK

Jakob Buchheim,     Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

Samuel Bunani

Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Burundi, Bujumbura, Burundi

Malynda A. Cappelle,     The University of Texas at El Paso, Center for Inland Desalination Systems, El Paso, TX, USA

Philip A. Davies,     Aston University, Birmingham, UK

Thomas A. Davis,     The University of Texas at El Paso, Center for Inland Desalination Systems, El Paso, TX, USA

Mengmeng Deng,     Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

Kathryn Farris,     Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA

Takahiro Fujioka,     Water and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan

M.C. García-Payo,     Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Physics, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

J. Gilron,     The Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Midreshet Sde Boker, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

Nicholas P. Hankins,     The Oxford Centre for Sustainable Water Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, The University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Claus Hélix-Nielsen

The Biomimetic Membrane Group, DTU Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia

Sebastián Hernández,     Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

Nalan Kabay,     Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey

Sher Jamal Khan,     National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan

Mohamed Khayet

Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Physics, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Madrid Institute of Advanced Studies of Water (IMDEA Water Institute), Madrid, Spain

James Kilduff,     Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA

Chang-Min Kim,     School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju, Republic of Korea

Long D. Nghiem,     Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia

Lindell Ormsbee,     Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

Hyung Gyu Park,     Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

Anthony Saad,     Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

Julio A. Sanmartino,     Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Physics, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Li-Cheng Shen,     The Oxford Centre for Sustainable Water Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, The University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Rajindar Singh,     Membrane Ventures, LLC, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

Chuyang Y. Tang,     Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Zhining Wang,     Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education of China Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

Roman M. Wyss,     Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

Preface

‘Overcoming the crisis in water and sanitation is one of the greatest human development challenges of the early 21st century’, a recent UN report has warned. About one in every six people today do not have sufficient access to clean drinking water, and twice as many lack basic sanitation. As a result, 2.2 million deaths per year are related to water/hygiene/sanitation; many of these are children. Such problems are forecast to grow worse, with more than half the world's population facing chronic to critical water shortages by 2050, limiting economic development and food supplies. Ensuring adequate water supplies to allow a sustainable future, thus poses an engineering challenge of the first magnitude.

What are the solutions to these challenges? New and massive reservoirs, wells, pipelines and river transfers are no longer acceptable; a more sustainable development and use of water resources is required, involving more sophisticated technology. Climate change means previously less water-stressed regions must rely increasingly on brackish underground waters or seawater as the main source of water, which can be energy intensive; alternatively, they must recycle and reuse wastewater. Yet global warming and rising fossil fuel prices both imply increasing challenges in the sustainable supply of energy. Add to this, the fact that the treatment of flowback water and produced water resulting from hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) of oil and gas wells is also becoming increasingly critical for safe disposal and reuse. All this implies further increases in the cost of water generally, and desalinated water in particular. On the other hand, an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable technology for water treatment should be inexpensive and energy-efficient, with minimal or no chemical consumption, it should be capable of water recycling and reuse that minimise the direct disposal of wastewater to the aquatic environment, and it should be an accessible technology which can be deployed in a wide range of human scenarios and over a wide range of physical scales.

Membrane separation technology offers a very promising response to address these tough challenges; it has the promise to dramatically improve the sustainability of our water resources. In recent years, the deployment of membrane technology in the water sector has grown exponentially. The growing interest in membrane technology for water and wastewater treatment is based on the following advantages:

• Compared to conventional technology, membrane technology has better contaminant removal efficiencies. It thus has the capability to address more stringent drinking water regulations. Since it prevents the passage of Cryptosporidium, Giardia and other pathogenic bacteria and viruses, it avoids the risk of microbial outbreaks without any chemical pretreatment. In wastewater treatment, membranes produce a very high effluent quality that meets strict discharge regulations, and effluents can be reused for industrial applications, irrigation and even as a source of potable drinking water.

• The technology is highly suitable in developing countries, because it can be used for small and distributed communities. Since a membrane filtration unit typically needs only half or less the footprint of a conventional potable water or wastewater treatment plant, it saves on space and money. The capacity of an existing plant can be increased by membrane units without additional footprint, whether for plant upgrade, expansion or for a new plant, enabling substantial capital savings. Furthermore, membrane units are modular in design, allowing for easy duplication and scale-up.

• Unlike the thermal effect units which are used for distillation, membrane separation processes do not generally involve boiling, allowing for a greatly reduced energy consumption. They are also ideally suited to operation which exploits renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and tidal.

• With the increase in membrane deployment, particularly in the water sector, there has been a steady reduction in membrane equipment costs, making water and wastewater treatment costs much lower. Indeed, recycling wastewater directly from municipal sewage is much cheaper in energy and resource terms than purifying seawater, and obviates wastewater disposal problems and water pollution.

• Membranes are capable of processing highly contaminated water, such as floodwater and sewage, with high concentrations of suspended solids and organic compounds. Thus, the use of membrane technology facilitates the use of lower quality water, or so-called ‘sewer mining’. Moreover, it shows flexibility to handle changing feedwater conditions and capacity increases. The operation is simple and automated, which ensures that system integrity is met.

For all these reasons, there is a rapidly expanding range of emerging membrane technologies for sustainable water supply and treatment. This book has focused on these emerging and state-of-the-art applications by inviting contributions from leading experts in four main areas, and each chapter highlights an area of innovative and promising technological development.

Section 1 covers membrane processes for global water solutions, with introductory contributions on the ethical and sustainable utilisation of water, and on membrane-based water processing. In Section 2, desalination and potable water purification are highlighted, with contributions on forward osmosis for sustainable water processing, membrane distillation for brine concentrate treatment, desalination by photovoltaic-powered RO, the use of fuel cells to power decentralised desalination in developing countries, the application of ion exchange membranes to water softening and high-recovery desalination at zero discharge and an overview of electromembrane processes. At the other end of the water supply chain, Section 3 focuses on wastewater treatment for reclamation and reuse, and it includes the removal of trace organic contaminants by NF/RO, the application of polymer–surfactant technologies to contaminant removal and recovery, the use of emerging membrane bioreactor technology for water reclamation and reuse and brine treatment for high-recovery desalination. Finally, Section 4 features novel membrane materials and applications, including high-purity water purification, development of aquaporin-based biomimetic membranes, porous ultrathin graphene membranes, nanocomposite and pH/temperature-responsive membranes and finally membrane fouling and developments in control techniques.

Throughout the book, the unifying themes of sustainability, energy and resource efficiency including renewable energy, and reclamation, reuse and recycle are emphasised. As a whole, the book provides a unique and single source in highlighting the growing and competitive importance of innovative membrane technology for sustainable water supply and technology.

Why a new book in this area?

The challenges posed by water stress and poor water-related hygiene have assumed a growing urgency in the past decade, tied inextricably to the water–food–energy nexus, in the midst of which global climate change has adopted a key and alarming position. Though membrane technology is hardly new, it has started to emerge globally in the past decade as a serious contender for this challenge at the large scale. Yet, whilst there are countless texts on water treatment and on membrane technologies, none address in a whole and integrated way the contribution which membrane technology is poised to make in the future. For the first time, the reader is able to see in one reference work the state of the art in this rapidly evolving area.

We wish to thank all the chapter contributors, and appreciate the editors at Elsevier, Kostas Marinakis, Christine McElvenny and Debasish Ghosh for their support and patience. And, Rajindar dedicates the book to his family: Rashna Batliwala, Samir Indar and Namrita Shirin.

Nicholas P. Hankins,  and Rajindar Singh

November 2015

Section 1

Membrane Processes for Global Water Solutions

Outline

Chapter 1. Ethical and Sustainable Utilisation of Water: Global Scenarios and Engineering Responsibilities

Chapter 2. Introduction to Membrane Processes for Water Treatment

Chapter 1

Ethical and Sustainable Utilisation of Water

Global Scenarios and Engineering Responsibilities

W. Richard Bowen     FREng, i-NewtonWales, Swansea, UK

Abstract

The United Nations recognises access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as human rights that are essential for the full enjoyment of life. As a result of initiatives arising from the Millennium Development Goals, significant progress has been made in increasing such provision on a global basis. Even so, hundreds of millions of people still do not have access to safe drinking water and billions still lack access to safe sanitation. Such lack has dire consequences for human health and agency, as well as being a potential cause of violent conflict. Thus, new global initiatives are planned which aim to achieve sustainable water for all. These initiatives will require substantial innovative input from engineers. Indeed, they provide great opportunities for engineers to use their knowledge and skills in ways that can lead to highly beneficial contributions to human well-being. Membrane engineering has great potential for contributing to these goals of universal and sustainable provision.

Keywords

Engineering responsibility; Global perspectives; Global plans; Human rights

1.1. Introduction

The development of a broad international consensus about the importance of human rights is one of the outstanding achievements of the twentieth century. The concept of human rights may be described as [1]:

There is something about each and every human being, simply as a human being, such that certain choices should be made and certain choices rejected; in particular, certain things ought not to be done to any human being and certain other things ought to be done for every human being.

The international consensus about this concept was first and most prominently demonstrated in 1948, through the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) [2]. This recognises that respect for the inherent dignity, and consequently for certain equal and inalienable rights, of all human beings is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. The Declaration has been developed through various international, regional and national legal instruments. At the international level, two of the most important are the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Human rights discourse continues to develop. Thus, in 2010 a resolution [3] of the General Assembly of the United Nations acknowledged ‘the importance of equitable access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as an integral component of the realization of all human rights’, and further recognised:

the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.

This resolution provides a very clear statement of the internationally recognised ethical importance of each person's need for access to clean drinking water and sanitation. Furthermore, this importance should be considered in the context of the UDHR challenge that ‘every individual and organ of society … shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance’.

Progressive measures to meet each person's needs must be sustainable if they are to be truly effective. Thus, sustainability has become a major international concern, as exemplified by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. The outcome document [4] of this conference had a vision of ‘commitment to sustainable development and to ensuring the promotion of an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future for our planet and for present and future generations’. It envisaged a world that is ‘just, equitable and inclusive’ in which people participate in decision-making that influences their lives. Water and sanitation are prominent in the document:

We recognize that water is at the core of sustainable development as it is closely linked to a number of key global challenges. We therefore reiterate the importance of integrating water into sustainable development, and underline the critical importance of water and sanitation within the three dimensions of sustainable development… We stress the need to adopt measures to significantly reduce water pollution and increase water quality, significantly improve wastewater treatment and water efficiency and reduce water losses. In order to achieve this, we stress the need for international assistance and cooperation.

Here the three dimensions of sustainable development are economic, social and environmental. Water and sanitation are linked to many priorities of the outcome document, including health, food and energy.

Thus, the needs for ethical and sustainable utilisation of water are widely recognised. This chapter will explore, at two levels, aspects of this recognition that are pertinent to the present book. Firstly, present global perspectives and likely global plans will be outlined. Secondly, the more specific responsibilities of engineers, and especially membrane engineers, will be considered.

1.2. Global Perspectives

The United Nations General Assembly Millennium Meeting in 2000 committed nations to a new global partnership. It aims to reduce extreme poverty by setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline of 2015, that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The specific targets developed included to ‘halve the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation’, using data for 1990 as a baseline. Much of the recent global focus concerning water and sanitation has been on progress towards these targets. The most recent update [5] shows not only that there has been significant progress, but also that there remains much to be done. Progress on meeting the target for drinking water has been greatest:

The MDG drinking water target coverage of 88% was met in 2010. Whereas 76% of the global population had access to an improved drinking water source in 1990, 89% of the global population had access in 2012, an increase of 2.3  billion people. Fifty-six per cent of the global population, almost four billion people, now enjoy the highest level of access: a piped drinking water connection on premises.

Although the world met the MDG drinking water target, 748  million people – mostly the poor and marginalized – still lack access to an improved drinking water source. Of these, almost a quarter (173  million) rely on untreated surface water, and over 90% live in rural areas. If current trends continue, there will still be 547  million people without an improved drinking water supply in 2015.

Progress on meeting the sanitation target has been less good¹:

The MDG sanitation target aims to reduce the proportion of the population without access to improved sanitation from 51% in 1990 to 25% in 2015. Coverage of improved sanitation increased from 49% in 1990 to 64% in 2012. Between 1990 and 2012, almost two billion people gained access to an improved sanitation facility, and open defecation decreased from 24% to 14%.

Despite significant progress on sanitation, in 2012, 2.5  billion people did not have access to an improved sanitation facility, down from 2.7  billion in 1990, a decrease of only 7%. If current trends continue, there will still be 2.4  billion people without access to an improved sanitation facility in 2015, falling short of the MDG sanitation target by over half a billion people. A large majority (70%) of those without access to an improved sanitation facility live in rural areas.

Inside these global figures are significant variations. For example, most of those without sanitation are poorer people living in rural areas, and progress on sanitation has often increased disparities by mainly benefiting wealthier people².

For the 34 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, a focus on water security has developed [6]. Such security has been described in terms of maintaining acceptable levels of risk of shortage (including droughts), risk of inadequate quality, risk of excess (including floods) and risk of undermining the resilience of freshwater systems. Such consideration is based on scientific and engineering assessments, as well as the perception of risk in society, whilst achieving a balance of economic, social and environmental consequences. There has been an emphasis on water pricing, such as charging for water use and pollution, as a means of managing some of these risks. That even the most technically advanced and affluent societies are vulnerable to water shortages has been shown by the effects of the prolonged drought in California during 2014. Conservation measures were hampered by a lack of water metring and by the multitude of providers with different rules [7]. Water supply in areas such as California is also increasingly under stress, due to the use of hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) for oil and gas extraction [8]. Furthermore, a study indicates that groundwater depletion in California may be increasing the chances of earthquakes [9].

All states and societies may be vulnerable to violent conflict connected with access to water. A ‘Water Conflict Chronology’ lists and provides details of 265 such conflicts between 3000 BC and 2012 AD [10]. These are categorised as control of water resources – where water supplies or access to water is at the root of tensions; military tool – where water resources or water systems are used during a military action; political tool – where water resources or water systems are used for a political goal; terrorism – where water resources or water systems are either targets or tools of violence or coercion; military target – where water resources or water systems are targets of military actions; development disputes – where water resources or water systems are a major source of contention and dispute in the context of economic and social development. Most of the recent conflicts have been intrastate, particularly development disputes. However, there are significant interstate tensions related to water, including Israel, Jordan and Palestine; Syria and Turkey; Egypt and Ethiopia; Angola and Namibia; China and India; Pakistan and India. Indeed, governments are recognising water stress as one of the most significant potential drivers of the breakdown of the present international system and the emergence of major interstate conflict [11].

1.3. Global Plans

The time of writing occurs during a period of transition. The deadline for the MDG is approaching and plans are being formulated for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as a basis for the post-2015 development agenda. A recent document [12] has collected together recommendations from a number of high-level international initiatives. This document recognises the economic, social and environmental importance of water. It also recognises that, although access to drinking water and sanitation for all is vital, the global water challenge must also include management of water resources, wastewater treatment, water quality and preparedness for natural and manmade catastrophic events. It therefore proposes that the overall goal should be stated as ‘Securing Sustainable Water For All’. The document specifies five targets that are intended to drive progress at national and global levels:

1. Safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) – By 2030: to eliminate open defecation; to achieve universal access to basic drinking water, sanitation and hygiene for households, schools and health facilities; to halve the proportion of the population without access at home to safely managed drinking water and sanitation services; and to progressively eliminate inequalities in access.

2. Water resources – Improve the sustainable use and development of water resources in all countries: aiming to promote decisions and actions that take into account both human and environmental water requirements, as well as the need to increase the long-term viability of natural supply systems.

3. Water governance – All countries to strengthen equitable, participatory and accountable water governance: aiming to promote an enabling environment, such that institutional structures relevant to water are effective and that its administrative systems function for the benefit of society as a whole.

4. Managing wastewater and pollution to protect water quality – Reduce wastewater pollution and improve water quality by reducing untreated domestic and industrial wastewater; increasing wastewater reused safely; and reducing nutrient pollution to maximise water resource availability and improve water quality.

5. Water-related disasters – Reduce mortality and economic loss from water-related disasters: focusing on actions that build resilience.

Quantification of these targets and procedures for measuring progress are in the process of being specified.

The UN-Water document assesses that appropriate engineering investment for the effective use of available water has wide-reaching economic benefits in sectors as diverse as industry, energy, agriculture, tourism and recreation. The costs of such investment have been estimated, with particular attention to the universal provision of clean drinking water and sanitation after the achievement of the MDG targets. On a worldwide basis, such provision has been estimated to cost US$174  billion for drinking water and US$217  billion for sanitation [13]. These are large amounts, but they are small compared to annual global military expenditure, which was at least US$1756  billion in 2013 [14]. It seems that globally there is a greater willingness to use resources for war than to use resources for vital human needs.

There is also a concern that the human right to clean drinking water and sanitation recognised by the UN is receiving insufficient attention in the planning of SDG. It has been suggested that the most recently available SDG drafts tend to prioritise water security for economic growth rather than the preservation of common resources and the equitable distribution of scarce supplies [15]. That is, a certain priority is being given to industries with large water requirements, such as mining and energy. Energy, in particular, is a business that has much greater financial and political influence than water. Appropriate attention to human rights rather prioritises the dignity of each person, with a special sensitivity to those most at risk, rather than using a cost-benefit analysis.

A promising approach to the avoidance of conflict over water sees competing claims for access as an opportunity, an approach that has been termed Blue Peace [16]. This approach has been proposed at high political levels and particularly for those areas of the Middle East where tensions about water supply exist: firstly, the northern countries (Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan), and secondly the southern countries (Israel and The Palestinian Territories). Collaboration in establishing common standards for measuring water flow and quality, setting and implementing goals for sustainable water resource management and promotion of regional strategies to combat drought arising from climate change could provide a shared investment in the most essential of resources and hence provide an important motivation for peaceful coexistence.

The UN-Water document in which the goal of Securing Sustainable Water for All is proposed recognises the need for a substantial increase in research and development that could lead to technological innovation and reduction of the cost of efficient technologies. It also recognises the need to build the practical capacities that would enable the means for achieving the goal to be provided. Thus, the next section will consider the responsibilities of engineers in the ethical and sustainable utilisation of water.

1.4. Engineering Responsibilities

Consideration of the responsibilities of engineers in response to these global perspectives and likely global plans can benefit from a consideration of the overall objectives of engineering. The goal of engineering has been described as the promotion of the flourishing of persons in communities through contribution to material well-being [17]. This is a description of an ethical endeavour: it describes the activities of persons, in this case engineers, for the benefit of other persons. Individual engineers and engineering enterprises may seek to contribute to the fulfilment of this goal in many different ways. Their actions will typically involve practical improvements to presently existing circumstances, using their unique engineering capabilities to identify and implement such improvements. It can be beneficial to have an aspirational approach to the prioritisation of such activities. It may be proposed that a useful guide for the choice of such actions can be formulated in terms of an opportunity of professional capabilities:

…if some action that can be freely undertaken is open to a person (thereby making it feasible), and if the person assesses that the undertaking of that action will create a more just situation in the world (thereby making it justice-enhancing), then that is argument enough for the person to consider seriously what he or she should do in view of these recognitions.

This formulation was used to define an obligation of power in an account of (political) justice given by the economist and philosopher Amartya Sen [18]. However, engineers rarely have the type of political power referred to by Sen. It has, therefore, been proposed to retain the definition but to refer instead to an opportunity of professional capabilities. Such opportunity could be considered as a generalisation of the ‘rule of rescue’: the compelling motivation to save endangered human life wherever possible. When we become aware of the need of others, we are almost always free to walk away. Nevertheless, we are often moved to action by the situation that confronts us. Such involvement is an ethical act.

It should be noted that this opportunity is practical rather than idealistic, for it concerns the serious consideration of feasible options and thus, recognises that there may be situational constraints on the action (at least initially). The opportunity certainly refers to a type of situation in which many engineers may find themselves, for they have at their disposal a range of knowledge, skills, techniques and technologies of great potential. Most importantly, the same knowledge and skills may provide them with an unique ability to identify such problems and opportunities. Here the term professional capabilities is taken to refer specifically to the professional actions which an engineer can undertake to remove injustice and to promote justice.

Lack of access to clean drinking water and sanitation is a clear example of an injustice. The remedying of this injustice presents a clear opportunity of professional capabilities for engineers. Indeed, the consequences of such a lack may be so severe as to merit consideration as an obligation of professional capabilities for engineers. In considering such opportunities and obligations, engineers should note that the technological artefacts which they can provide not only promote human flourishing in terms of well-being (such as welfare, health and safety) but also enable others to choose the type of life they wish to live. That is, the benefits of such engineering can be best understood in terms of the capabilities of beneficiaries, the various things that a person manages to do or be in leading a life [19]. Such capabilities may be described in terms of both well-being and agency, the latter being the possibility to advance whatever goals and values a person has reason to advance. Well-being is particularly useful in assessing issues of distributive justice. Agency gives attention to the beneficiary as a doer. The specific inclusion of agency allows for a much richer description of benefits than consideration of well-being alone. For example, in the case of provision of clean drinking water and sanitation, well-being may be exemplified through improved health due to reduced susceptibility to waterborne diseases. However, such provision also enhances agency as improved health allows adults to take a fuller part in society and ensures that children are healthy enough to attend and fully benefit from school. These are just an indication of a multitude of such benefits. It is through the enhancement of such agency that provision of clean drinking water and sanitation can have a pivotal role in the achievement of all SDG.

Awareness of the social usefulness of such provision is a vital factor in the promotion of technical excellence in engineering. There is strong evidence that engineers who are aware of and motivated by the socially beneficial applications of their work are likely to think with great creativity. This results in highly innovative proposals that show great prospects not only for social usefulness but also for sustainable commercial profitability and sustainable employment [20].

A further type of motivation is provided by the UDHR challenge to ‘every individual and organ of society’. Commercial businesses are important organs of society in which many engineers are employed. There has been a series of initiatives aiming to clarify the role of such businesses with respect to human rights. A very important culmination of these initiatives has been the endorsement in 2011 by the United Nations Human Rights Council of a set of Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights [21]. These are designed to provide a global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity. They are also intended to provide tools to measure real progress in the daily lives of people. A key aspect of these Guiding Principles is the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. However, many enlightened businesses now go further and seek to promote human rights. There may be a number of reasons for doing so that are relevant to central business objectives, such as the development of new business opportunities or to enhance the company's reputation. In some circumstances, a company may need to invest in the local provision of clean drinking water and sanitation, health care and education so as to ensure a suitable work force and the support of the local community. National laws and the conditions of government contracts may also require such promotion of human rights. Furthermore, businesses which have provision of clean drinking water and sanitation as a core concern are clearly acting to promote an internationally recognised right.

Underlying the formulation of SDG are the need to reshape the existing global partnership to avoid it being based on donor-recipient relationships and the consequent need to engage a full range of types of participants. SDG with a high degree of policy coherence at the global, regional, national and subnational levels will be required. The vision is that of a transformative people-centred approach: that is, both the well-being and the agency of all should be respected and promoted. If such approaches are to succeed in the longer term, it is essential to engage engineering students and young professional engineers in such activities. This is specifically a goal of the international organisation Engineers Without Borders. Its priorities exemplify such a transformative, people-centred approach [22]:

Holistic engineering – we work with an interdisciplinary approach that takes into consideration of the local knowledge, economy, culture and environment.

Active partnerships – we build long-term relationships and work in collaboration with communities and local organisations.

People participation – we believe in demand-led development and participatory change.

Small footprint – we want to adopt a sustainable use of natural resources and minimise any impact to the local environment, biodiversity or global climate.

Appropriate technology – we adapt existing low-risk technology and apply modern engineering methods.

Furthermore, all engineers can contribute to development by participation in initiatives such as the Technology Exchange Lab, an online platform for the sharing and discussion of ideas for innovative, locally implemented solutions to problems of poverty and sustainability, including clean drinking water and sanitation [23].

The political initiative that sees competition for access to water as an opportunity, Blue Peace, has an engineering equivalent in the practice of Peace Engineering [24]. The vision is that engineers recognise the prioritising of the peace of communities as an essential feature of their work. Notable features of this approach include the following:

• provision of practical solutions to local needs, whether they arise from competition for resources such as water, economic marginalisation, climate change or other factors;

• activities that directly commit persons and communities in potential conflict to common projects of benefit to all;

• provision of nonviolent means of meeting human needs and of preventing the buildup of tensions, both of which are presently associated with the temptations of preventive or preemptive military action.

Approaches of these types respect the full and equal status of every person, achieve a congruence of nonviolent means and ends in the promotion of peace, and recognise that peace involves much more than the absence of conflict.

Good evidence of the success of such practical approaches in overcoming ethnic tensions is available [25]. For example, in Gal Oya in Sri Lanka, a region that had experienced repeated violent ethnic conflict, an inadequate irrigation system was the source of continuing tensions between Sinhalese farmers living upstream and Tamil farmers living downstream. The system was updated with an emphasis on participation of all potential beneficiaries, with remarkable social results. The Sinhalese farmers voluntarily reduced their water use in order to make more available to the Tamil farmers. Sharing of water continued even in a severe dry season. Despite efforts of Tamil Tigers during the long civil war, the cooperation continued with Sinhalese farmers protecting Tamil project staff and farmers. In contrast, a second scheme in Sri Lanka, at Mahaweli, failed to include equitable participation and failed to have such peacemaking effects. The Gal Oya scheme promoted reconciliation through a generous and compassionate approach that involved both technical and social ingenuity.

Global goals for water are essential for setting a worldwide agenda. However, the practical achievement of such goals depends crucially on the work of engineers. The basis of this crucial contribution lies in engineering capabilities, the range of knowledge, skills, techniques and technologies of great potential which engineers have at their disposal. Two further factors are also important. Firstly, engineers are widely dispersed in differing types of communities and differing geographical locations. They are hence often available where essential work needs to be undertaken. Secondly, engineers can often work across state boundaries without many of the political restrictions that limit high-level initiatives. Though such engineering work may not have the glamour associated with prestigious initiatives, it can efficiently and effectively improve the lives of many.

1.5. Membrane Engineering

To provide an inspiration to current and future workers in this area, it is worth recalling the contributions of the pioneers of membrane technology. A key innovative step was the development in 1959 of practically useful polymeric anisotropic membranes [26]. The first Loeb-Sourirajan membrane was what is now termed a reverse osmosis membrane, and is the prototype of a family of membranes, also including nanofiltration membranes and ultrafiltration membranes, with pores in specified segments of the range from subnanometre dimensions to about 100  nm.

A key engineering contribution was the use of such membranes in the development of the world's first commercial reverse osmosis system in the town of Coalinga in California, a development that required the ingenious solution of several practical problems. The process at Coalinga provided 19,000  L of drinking water daily for the residents; there was a special need for such provision, as the local water was so high in minerals that drinking water was previously transported in by rail tanker. Further noteworthy scaleup was achieved at the first reverse osmosis plant in the Middle East, at Kibbutz Yotvata, Israel, which used locally manufactured membranes to produce 150,000  L of drinking water daily. This installation was much needed as the local water was sufficiently brackish to pose a serious threat to health when consumed. It was from such modest beginnings that the membrane business developed that is now worth many billions of euros annually.

The engineers working on these processes acted on what has been described in the present chapter as an opportunity of professional capabilities. Their success shows that aspirational approaches to the promotion of human flourishing through engineering are practically achievable. Though membrane processes are commercially successful, such success was not the main motivation for many of these early pioneers. Their greatest motivation was often rather that they could use their engineering skills to contribute much to the welfare of many. However, as this chapter has made clear, there are still many in the world whose human rights to clean water and sanitation are not being fulfilled. There remains a great need to develop new membrane technologies for the sustainable provision of clean drinking water, sanitation and wastewater treatment, and especially so in forms that are cost-effective and appropriate for use in deprived communities. The technical chapters of this book provide accounts of some of the most promising approaches.

References

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[4] United Nations. The Future We Want A/RES/66/288. New York: United Nations General Assembly; 2012.

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[16] Strategic Foresight Group. The Blue Peace: Rethinking Middle East Water. Mumbai: SFG; 2011 Strategic Foresight Group, Water Cooperation for a Secure World: Focus on the Middle East, SFG, Mumbai, 2013.

[17] Bowen W.R. Engineering Ethics: Challenges and Opportunities. Cham: Springer International Switzerland; 2014.

[18] Sen A. The Idea of Justice. London: Allen Lane; 2009 p. 206.

[19] Sen A. On Ethics and Economics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing; 1987.

[20] Cooley M. Architect or Bee? the Human Price of Technology. second ed. London: The Hogarth Press; 1987.

[21] Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights. Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework. New York and Geneva: OHCHR; 2011.

[22] http://www.ewb-uk.org/about/approach.

[23] http://www.technologyexchangelab.org.

[24] Vesilind P.A, Bowen W.R, eds. Peace Engineering. second ed. Woodsville: Lakeshore Press; 2013.

[25] Muscat R.J. Investing in Peace. New York: M.E. Sharp; 2002 (The text describes further practical examples).

[26] Loeb S. The Loeb-Sourirajan Membrane: How it Came about, ACS Symposium Series. 1981;153:1–9.

¹ The figures take into account