Life cycle assessment of reverse osmosis for high-salinity seawater desalination process: Potable and industrial water production

Seawater desalination is applied worldwide as a solution to water supply, especially for countries with limited water resources. The industry sector is the primary water user in varying qualities for different purposes. Desalination of seawater is increasingly implemented in the Persian Gulf region, but the environmental impacts have not been adequately assessed. This study assessed the life cycle environmental impacts of potable and industrial grade water with the most detailed inventory, including the impact of the brine rejected to the sea and solid wastes using SimaPro software. The 18 ReCiPe midpoint H impact categories, three endpoint damage categories, and the single score have also been specified. The seawater reverse osmosis powered by fossil fuels was studied to produce potable and industrial water. Electricity has the highest contribution to most of the studied impact categories. The sensitivity analysis showed that a 10% decrease in electricity consumption could reduce fossil resource scarcity and global warming by about 5% for potable and industrial water. The single total score for Sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) potable and industrial water production are 98.83 and 168.54 mPt, respectively, mainly related to the human health damage category. The cumulative energy demand assessment showed that non-renewable biomass and renewable (wind, solar and geothermal) have the least energy intensity, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, the life cycle assessment of SWRO industrial water production has not been performed before. The current study would be a baseline for further comparisons. The potable water production results agree with the other studies despite having a much more detailed inventory.