MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear Members,

Water Desalination has progressed sustainably and quickly during the last 20 years, reaching 104.000 M m3/day in 2019 (according to the last desaldata report). Desalination being used as an alternative water supply for safe drinking water is now a reality which represents a solution for coastal areas with no alternative fresh water resources. The technology has improved in efficiency, and notably, the solutions offered are competitive in their energy efficiency (3.2-4 kw-h/m3), specifically regarding membrane performance, offering the market affordable tariffs (0.5-0,8 $/m3). That Desalination as a solution has been widely adapted to new contracting models and new financing structures has clearly facilitated the current expansion in the marketplace (e.g., 65% has been contracted under BOOT, versus 35% in EPC as of 2019). Finally, the scalability of the technology has proved mature and reliable. These days, it is simply out of the question to have several projects under construction in the range above 400 MLD. And yet, if we review the evolution of water reuse, I don’t think we have fulfilled the original expectations we held twenty years ago. In the last two years, the reuse market has grown larger than the desalination market (even combining desalination of seawater and brackish water) regarding new contracted capacity, especially in regions that suffer from prolonged periods of drought, or in those places where access to fresh water is a continual challenge. With the exception of specific cases, such as California, Israel and Singapore, the majority of the world is far from achieving their goals of clean water sustainability. How is it possible that witnessing expanding technology development in desalination, better access to the resources needed for

desalination (more universal not restricted to coastal areas), and a low cost of production, has not produced the expected devolvement in the application of water reuse?

In my view, there are four main barriers, each of which still exists, that impede the normal development of the solution:

1. Education: Although the actual separation process by membranes is completely safe by using multi-step barrier processes (Nano - and RO - membranes coupled with UV disinfection), there is still serious hesitancy amidst utilities to implement this technology, fearing citizens’ reactions when they discover that wastewater is being reused. Awareness campaigns about our current technology, and the possibility of phasing in new uses for reused water (starting with industrial sectors, moving to agricultural purposes, and later leaping to drinking water by aquifer injection) will facilitate this process. 2. Lack of Sanitation Coverage: There are still many countries with no sanitation coverage for their population; and therefore, it seems evident that reuse is not high on the list of priorities. Nevertheless, the design of a complete process which covers sanitation and reuse simultaneously is probably the easy way to progress while adding new incomes and improving the sustainability of the sanitation system in the future. 3. Regulation: Except in singular cases mentioned above, there is not one common legal framework which covers applied regulations to reused water. In terms of regulation, water reuse, unlike drinking water, does not have universal quality standards, because: ʞ It has different end uses ʞ It is a new practice ʞ It has been locally developed in different ways to address specific needs that cannot be easily extrapolated to other conditions

Agricultural irrigation was the first recognized use for recycled water, as well as the first one established by the World Health Organization in 1989. In the United States, California was a pioneer in regulating reused water, and today, Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations is the most extensive and complete set of regulations. Indeed, it is used by other countries in the world as a guideline for their own directives or royal decrees. Title 22 regulates 40 specific uses of disinfected tertiary recycled water (such as park irrigation), 24 specific uses of disinfected secondary recycled water (such as irrigation of animal feed and other unprocessed crops) and 7 permitted uses of undisinfected secondary recycled water (such as industrial uses). As a sector, we need to adopt California’s model, implementing their experience with regulations in the rest of the world to facilitate reuse as a common practices

4. Financing: The current restricted budgets offered by many Governments and utilities in infrastructures is affecting the lack of sanitation. Thus, the development of water reuse is not as prioritized as it should be. In addition, the possibility to adapt reuse practices to new financial models is received with concerns by lenders and investors due the uncertainty of the final water users (e.g. farmers) due to the fact that in many regions of the world they have traditionally