A review of the current status of small-scale seawater reverse osmosis desalination

The current status of small-scale desalination (produced water capacity 100 m3/day or less) is reviewed to provide an overview of the market segment. The use of energy-recovery devices in this market segment is also reviewed. We find that the Middle East accounts for the largest market share worldwide at present, and reverse osmosis is overwhelmingly dominant among the desalination technologies adopted. Implementation of energy-recovery devices at small scale is rare, which leads to relatively high energy consumption for small-scale seawater reverse osmosis desalination systems.