Aggregation-Mediated Solar-Optimized Hybrid Seawater Desalination for Sustainable Potable Water Production and Wastewater Management in Coastal Delta Regions

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Chinese explanation / 中文解读

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Original abstract

Freshwater scarcity remains one of the most pressing environmental challenges of the twenty-first century, particularly in coastal and delta regions where population growth, climate change, saltwater intrusion, water pollution, and increasing pressure on freshwater resources continue to threaten access to safe drinking water. Although conventional desalination technologies, including reverse osmosis (RO) and thermal distillation, have expanded freshwater production, their wider application is constrained by high energy consumption, membrane fouling, scaling, operational complexity, and environmental concerns associated with brine disposal and wastewater management. This chapter proposes an aggregation-mediated, solar-assisted hybrid desalination framework that integrates low-voltage ionic aggregation, gravity-driven phase separation, electro-assisted desalination, and membrane polishing to improve potable-water production. The proposed framework combines ion aggregation kinetics, electrophoretic transport, sedimentation behavior, and solar-energy performance analysis within a unified physicochemical approach. A system-level energy factor is incorporated to evaluate practical photovoltaic losses and their influence on desalination efficiency. The analysis suggests that aggregation-mediated pretreatment may reduce the salinity load entering membrane systems, thereby lowering energy demand, reducing membrane fouling, and supporting more efficient treatment of saline wastewater and concentrated brine. The framework is further evaluated for climate-sensitive delta regions, where decentralized renewable-energy-powered desalination can strengthen freshwater security while promoting responsible brine management and resource-efficient water use. Overall, the proposed approach represents a complementary treatment strategy rather than a replacement for existing desalination technologies. Future studies should emphasize pilot-scale validation, techno-economic assessment, long-term operational performance, environmental impact evaluation, and opportunities for resource recovery within sustainable wastewater and circular water-management systems.

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