Human’s impact on the Natural Environment is most evident from our use of water. The DEMWAX™ system promises to dramatically reduce that impact. The quantifiable economic benefits of the DEMWAX™ are substantial but when combined with the superior environmental footprint, we believe the technology will be widely adopted worldwide.

This section provides an overview of the environmental benefits of the DEMWAX™ system. While DXV is still gathering data to demonstrate these benefits, we provide an overview of the theoretical basis for the Company’s confidence in the sustainability this invention will offer.

The following are the seven (7) major environmental benefits of the DEMWAX™ system. Not all benefits accrue to every application equally, but this will describe the benefits generally attributable to the DEMWAX™.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT #1 – CARBON FOOTPRINT

As described in the technology section, the DEMWAX™ system represents a breakthrough in desalination efficiency reaching the theoretical limits of the energy required to break the ionic bond between salt and water. Unlike most highly efficient technologies, this one comes at reduced capital costs. There would be little debate over renewable energy technologies if they had capital costs on par with their less sustainable, non-renewable competitors. The DEMWAX™ carbon savings compared to a traditional, shore based SWRO plant is substantial. For every acre foot (AF) of water produced from a seawater DEMWAX™ plant, 4,800 pounds of carbon emissions are saved as compared to a state-of-the-art desalination plant (assuming U.S. grid average carbon emissions). For a 50 million gallon per day (MGD) plant (or 189,000 m3 per day) that amounts to 368 tons of carbon emissions avoidance per day.

More notably, the DEMWAX™ system is less carbon intensive than many large conveyance systems.  A DEMWAX™ system installed in Southern California will not only be far more efficient than the modern desalination plants proposed throughout the region, but it will save energy and carbon emissions as compared to the various aqueducts that feed water to the region from distant rivers.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT #2 – BRINE DISPOSAL

Desalination processes must have a sustainable way to dispose of the concentrate or brine waste stream. A typical membrane seawater desalination process will concentrate the salt in the seawater such that the brine can be twice the concentration of the underlying source water. Disposal of this concentrate back into the source water body is thought to damage the local ecology that is acclimated to the natural concentration. Due to the extremely low recovery of the DEMWAX™ process, the local concentration will only be a few percent over the surrounding source waters. The natural movement of water will mix this stream back to ambient concentration within a few meters of the system. This represents the elimination of a significant problem associated with traditional desalination plant entitlement efforts.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT #3 – IMPINGEMENT & ENTRAINMENT

Removing water from natural surface water bodies will necessarily impact the natural ecology in some way. The method of this removal can vary significantly having varying impacts. Intake pipes often are located in shallow regions where marine life is abundant. These intake pipes are generally sized based on economics often leading to higher intake velocities than is compatible with the surrounding ecology. Small fish are pinned against intake screens and their small larvae that slip through the screens are often killed in chemically intensive pre-treatment processes. Because a DEMWAX™ plant’s “intake” is effectively the aggregate membrane surface area, the intake velocities are orders of magnitude lower than in a traditional intake, allowing marine life to escape the system entirely. Further, in the seawater application, the depth of the system isolates it from the most vibrant regions of the sea.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT #4 – CHEMICAL USE

Typical water treatment systems require significant process chemicals in the pre-treatment stage. These chemicals, as well as all unwanted constituents, are then removed in the form of waste sludge or with the brine. This sludge introduces another concentrated waste stream into the natural environment. These chemicals also present a spill risk in their manufacture and distribution. The DEMWAX™ process eliminates the need for process chemicals by virtue of the unique membrane configuration and process.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT #5 – NATURAL WATERSHED

The seawater DEMWAX™ system can economically displace large conveyance projects that alter the natural watershed. Widespread use of the seawater DEMWAX™ may allow these diverted water ways to be restored to their natural state.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT #6 – WATER REUSE

A fresh water DEMWAX™ system can soften hard source waters using a nanofiltration membrane. As that water is used, dissolved solids are added to it increasing the hardness. By softening the water before it is used, the treated wastewater will be more suited to reuse applications that cannot handle hard waters.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT #7 – SITE CONSTRUCTION

Traditional shore based water treatment plants entail significant civil works in their construction.  Being an offshore, in situ process, the DEMWAX™ system avoids the air quality impacts that result from traditional construction projects.  DEMWAX™ membrane cartridges are factory made and installed underwater, requiring a mooring on the floor of the water body, with no significant shore based civil construction.