Desalination equipment maker sees rapid growth

By Poornima Gupta and Peter Henderson

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Energy Recovery Inc, which makes equipment for desalination plants, sees the industry that converts sea water to fresh water growing as much as 25 percent annually and is looking to expand its operations through the acquisition of new technologies.

"It's an exciting place," said G.G. Pique, president and chief executive of Energy Recovery. "We see it growing at 20 percent to 25 percent per year for a long time."

Energy Recovery produces equipment for desalination plants that cuts energy use by 60 percent.

Desalination needs pressure about 40 times higher than from a tap at home, which requires a lot of energy to create. The Energy Recovery product transfers pressure from the waste stream of brine to the incoming seawater.

The primary method of desalting water is reverse osmosis, which pushes water under high pressure through fine membranes that separate out the salt.

Pique said that costs of desalinated seawater had become competitive for many urban users because of fast-rising rates for other water sources. He said desalination plants today could produce water for about 72 cents per cubic meter.

That would be about $1.09 for the 400 gallons per day an average U.S. household of four would use. California municipal water rates are generally $1.10 to $1.20 per cubic meter, he said.

Many other sources may still be cheaper, though. Preliminary results of a study by the public policy group Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation put the cost of ocean desalination at slightly higher than Energy Recovery and said that water conservation and stormwater capture and groundwater storage were all significantly cheaper options.