Veolia in mineral recovery partnership at inland desalination plant

Texas-based company, Enviro Water Minerals (EWM), is to deploy its novel mineral recovery technology in a partnership with water and waste giant, Veolia, to produce potable water from brackish water desalination effluent.

EWM will use its pre-commercial mineral recovery technology in a wastewater treatment plant drawing on effluent from the adjacent Kay Bailey Hutchison (KBH) plant near El Paso, Texas - the world’s largest inland desalination facility.

The zero-discharge EWM plant will recover contaminant minerals from the waste brine concentrate from the KBH reverse osmosis process and transfer them into commercial products while producing potable water at 2 Ml/d for the city of El Paso. It is scheduled to begin operations in early 2017.

EWM has awarded a 10-year operations and maintenance deal to Veolia. The companies said the new plant is the first of its kind.

In a statement, EWM chief executive, Hubble Hausman, said: “Waste brine disposal has long been the Achilles’ heel of inland desalination facilities. Our El Paso project will demonstrate that it is possible to produce multiple marketable chemical and mineral products from the waste brine while increasing the recovery of potable water and eliminating waste.”