AUSTRALIA – The New South Wales government has initiated preliminary planning to increase the output of the Sydney Desalination Plant to safeguard the city’s water supplies as reservoir levels continue to fall. The desalination plant, located at Kurnell, has been operational since January this year, and reached full production two months ahead of schedule at the end of July.

The plant is now producing 250,000 m³/d, roughly 15 percent of Sydney’s water supply. Undertaking the planning work allows the city to act immediately to increase water supply, in case the current drought worsens and water levels continue to fall.^[1]

CHILE –   The University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute Centre of Excellence in Chile (SMI-ICE-Chile) is collaborating with Trends Industrial on an integrated multi-user desalination supply system in Chile’s Atacama region. The two organizations have been exploring the development of multi-user water supply systems with shared infrastructure. The Atacama region has been enduring severe drought conditions and the region’s key industries, particularly the mining sector, depend on sustainable water supply for continued industrial development.^[2]

ANGOLA – Dubai is planning to invest $2 billion in an energy venture in Angola. Angolan news sources have reported that Sheik Ahmed Bin Dalmook Al Maktoum and João Loure, the President of Angola, agreed on the terms of a venture that will focus on the energy sector, agriculture, and industry. Included in the agreement is a desalination plant located on the Angolan coast, as well as plans for a power station in the Moxico province, and an electrical network for nation’s eastern region.^[3]

^{Saltworks’ Saltmaker Evaporator Crystallizer for zero liquid discharge industrial wastewater treatment and brine management. Iran Credit: bctechnology.com}

CANADA – Canada’s federal government has awarded $39 million to seventeen British Columbia based projects through the nationwide Business Scale-up and Productivity Program. One of the startups receiving funding is industrial brine concentration specialist Saltworks Technologies. Saltworks has been awarded $2.5 million to demonstrate and commercialize its technology.^[4]