Perth desalination expansion to use ERDs from ERI

The expansion to the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant in Western Australia is to use PX™ Pressure Exchanger™ energy-recovery devices as were used in the original plant.

Energy Recovery Inc, announcing the award on 2 November 2011, said the PXs would virtually eliminate cost unplanned downtime and reduce the energy and costs required for Water Corporation to produce an extra 140,000 m³/d for the greater Perth region.

“After successfully operating ERI’s PX technology in the initial Binningup plant, we realized that ERI devices offer substantial advantages in performance, energy savings and uptime,” said Pablo Abril Martorell, general manager at Valoriza Agua, part of the Southern Seawater Alliance.

“The operational benefits of installing and running a maintenance-free technology allow us to produce water more reliably and economically. Energy Recovery’s PX devices are the ideal choice in high-performance technologies for large desalination plants,” Martorelli said.