In January 2023, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) research hub announced eleven pilot projects in five states. They aimed to make small desalination systems more efficient and cheaper and to tap non-traditional water sources. Federal funding was 5 million dollars, plus 8.4 million dollars in cost share. Projects included electrodialysis to further concentrate brine in El Paso, Texas, with Veolia, batch reverse osmosis from Purdue University and electrically conductive reverse osmosis membranes from Pacifica Water Solutions in Sand City, California.
The selection showed where U.S. research funding was pointing at the time: small, decentralised systems, inland brackish water, wastewater and produced water, and processes that leave behind less brine.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy