The committee has identified priority research areas to help make desalination a competitive option among water supply alternatives for communities facing water shortages. These research areas, which are described in more detail in Chapter 8, are summarized here. The highest priority topics are shown in bold. Some of this research may be most appropriately supported by the private sector. The research topics for which the federal government should have an interest—where the benefits are widespread and where no private-sector entities are willing to make the investments and assume the risk—are marked with asterisks.

GOAL 1. Understand the environmental impacts of desalination and develop approaches to minimize these impacts relative to other water supply alternatives

1. Assess environmental impacts of desalination intake and concentrate management approaches**

   1. Conduct field studies to assess environmental impacts of seawater intakes**

   2. Conduct field studies to assess environmental impacts of brackish groundwater development**

   3. Develop protocols and conduct field studies to assess the impacts of concentrate management approaches in inland and coastal settings**

   4. Develop laboratory protocols for long-term toxicity testing of whole effluent to assess long-term impacts of concentrate on aquatic life**

   5. Assess the environmental fate and bioaccumulation potential of desalination-related contaminants**

2. Develop improved intake methods at coastal facilities to minimize impingement of larger organisms and entrainment of smaller ones**

3. Assess the quantity and distribution of brackish water resources nationwide**

4. Analyze the human health impacts of boron, considering other sources of boron exposure, to expedite water-quality guidance for desalination process design**

GOAL 2. Develop approaches to lower the financial costs of desalination so that it is an attractive option relative to other alternatives in locations where traditional sources of water are inadequate

5. Improve pretreatment for membrane desalination

   1. Develop more robust, cost-effective pretreatment processes

   2. Reduce chemical requirements for pretreatment

6. Improve membrane system performance

   1. Develop high-permeability, fouling-resistant, high-rejection, oxidant-resistant membranes

   2. Optimize membrane system design

   3. Develop lower-cost, corrosion-resistant materials of construction

   4. Develop ion-selective processes for brackish water

   5. Develop hybrid desalination processes to increase recovery

7. Improve existing desalination approaches to reduce primary energy use

   1. Develop improved energy recovery technologies and techniques for desalination

   2. Research configurations and applications for desalination to utilize waste heat**

   3. Understand the impact of energy pricing on desalination technology over time**

   4. Investigate approaches for integrating renewable energy with desalination**

8. Develop novel approaches and/or processes to desalinate water in a way that reduces primary energy use**

GOAL 1 and 2 Cross Cuts.

9. Develop cost-effective approaches for concentrate management that minimize potential environmental impacts**