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Industry History

  1. 2000 bc - 1974
  2. 1975 - 1989
  3. 1990 - 1999
  4. 2000 - 2009
  5. 2010 - Present

  1. 2000 b.c

    The Indus Valley Civilization uses wastewater to irrigate crops

    400 b.c

    Greek and Roman engineers develop methods to transport wastewater to agricultural lands

    320 b.c

    Greek philosopher Aristotle writes of seawater distillation

    14th century

    The Moors in Spain constructed irrigation systems that use treated wastewater

    1560

    First documented extensive use of desalination stills on land for some months in the Island of Djerba, Tunisia

    1675

    Walcot files seawater distillation patent in England

    1683

    Fitzgerald files conflicting seawater distillation patents, leading to a protracted patent dispute with Walcot

    1790

    Thomas Jefferson publishes Report on the Method for Obtaining Fresh Water from Salt

    19th century

    Cities in Europe and North America begin to construct wastewater treatment systems to prevent water pollution

    1834

    Sulzer was founded in Winterthur, Switzerland

    1843

    Rillieux patents, builds, and sells successful multi-effect evaporators

    1850 - 1900

    For the first time in history extensive use of desalination on land occurs on the Pacific coast of Perú, Bolivia and Chile to support mining of guano, saltpetre and silver and will support the development of the region for many decades. Several of the stills were supplied by Or. Normandy.

    1850 - 1950

    Industrial production of distillation-based desalination units for marine and land-based applications grows and consolidates Multistage units progressively appear

    1851

    France's Alphonse Normandy patents the first of a series of vertical tube single stage seawater stills in the UK

    1862

    Normandy stills installed at US sites in Key West Florida and Fort Pulaski, Georgia, and in Dry, Tortugas

    1869

    The first seawater distillation plant was built by the British government in Aden (Yemen) to supply the ships of the Empire with fresh water en route to India

    1872

    Charles Wilson designs, and installs 19 m3/day solar distiller in Las Salinas, Bolivia (nowadays Chile), which operated until 1912

    1881

    Seawater distiller installed on Malta

    1895

    Mirlees-Watson installs two six-effect seawater distillers in Sudan

    1899

    Kestner patents first of a series of rising and falling-film long tube vertical evaporators

    Early 20th century

    Water reuse was mainly limited. to agricultural irrigation, with treated wastewater used to Irrigate crops

    1900

    Addison Waterhouse's US patent anticipates a multistage flash distillation process

    1907

    Two small land-based seawater plants known as "The Kindasa" (the condenser), were installed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    1908

    Prache designs, patents thermocompressor nozzle design, and establishes TVC business

    1910

    Frank Normandy publishes a book entitled "Sea Water Distillation

    1912

    Weir installs six-effect evaporators on the Red Sea in Safaga Bay, Egypt

    1919

    AB Pump Industries was founded

    1928

    UK's Aiton installs a Prache & Broullion TVC evaporator on Curaçao

    1929

    Multi Stage evaporator installed In Curação

    1930's

    Weir installs many submerged tube multi effect evaporators on Curaçao and Aruba

    1930

    The first large-scale desalination plant was built at Aruba, in the Netherlands Antilles, near Venezuela

    1933

    Danfoss was established by Mads Clausen as "Dansk Koleautomatick og Apparatfabrik, offering the first thermostatic expansion valves water valves, thermostats, pressure switches, filter driers, and more

    1934

    SS Queen Mary launched, with triple effect cupronickel evaporators using ferric chloride as an anti-scalant

    1941

    MECO introduces Model K diesel-powered vacuum distiller with 260:1 water-to-fuel ratio

    1946

    Kuwait Oil Company installs its first evaporator using a unit from an old World War I destroyer

    1950's -1960's

    Advances in wastewater treatment technology led to increased use of treated wastewater for industrial & municipal sectors Asahi looks at ED for brine concentration in the production of salt in the early 1950s

    1952

    US President Harry Truman signed the Saline Water act

    1955

    First reported use of term "reverse osmosis in US Dept of interior's Saline Water Commission annual report

    1956

    Westinghouse installs four x 2250 m3/d vertical four-stage flash units in Kuwait

    1956

    Aqua Chem (Goeldner) patent disclosure for brine recirculation MSF process

    1957

    Prof. Silver from Glasgow University patents the Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) Evaporator and opens the way to large scale application

    1958

    US Dept of interior authorized to "construct and operate not less than five” seawater desal plants

    1958

    Bill Katz, then VP of lonics. sold and installed the first US electrodialysis system at Coalinga, CA. Bill was part of a team who developed ED technology

    1959

    Aqua-Chem furnishes 570 m3/d MSF with 26 stages and brine recirculation for Southern California Edison in Oxnard, California

    1959

    Researchers at UCLA develop first RO Membrane

    1960's

    ED enjoyed a growing lead over RD, and by 1970, there were over 200 ED installations worldwide

    1961

    Weir furnishes two 4,542 m3/d MSF with 19 stages for Kuwait, the first to employ the 1957 Silver design

    1960

    The office of Saline Water funded the construction of a 950 m3/d ED demonstration plant in Webster. South Dakota: the project was awarded to Asahi

    1960

    Asymmetric cellulose acetate membrane developed by Sidney Loeb and S. Sourirajan at UCLA

    1961

    Chicago Bridge & Iron installs a 12 effect 3,785 m3/d long tube MED with crystal seeding for scale prevention at Freeport, Texas

    1961

    From the White House, President Kennedy remotely tums on the first Seawater Conversion Plant in Freeport, Texas

    1961

    Vice President Lyndon Johnson presides over the public unveiling of the desalination plant in Freeport, Texas, June 21, 1961, Photo Source: Coots Imagery Deluxe

    1962

    Ionics installs the second US electrodialysis plant in Buckeye, Arizona

    1963

    First practical spiral wound module by General Atomics

    1964

    Sidem installs its first MED; a 120 m3/d 5-effect unit in Mururoa, Polynesia for French army

    1965

    First municipal RO plant goes online in Coalinga, California al 9m3/d brackish water system that was commissioned by RO membrane co inventor Sidney Loeb

    1965

    IDE Technologies Group was established in 1965 in Israel and has been operating uninterruptedly since

    1965

    Westinghouse builds its last MSF for Key West, Florida

    1965

    19 m3/d 'Raintree' plant in Coalinga, California is the first. commercial BWRO

    1967

    IDE installs a 60m3/d MVC, the first commercial installation, in Rocamar, Spain

    1967

    Alfa Laval introduces titanium plate design for evaporator heat transfer surfaces

    1967

    First commercially successful hollow fiber module by DuPont

    1967

    Firsonlinene sponge ball cleaning system used on an MSF by Weir Westgarth in the Bahamas

    1968

    D.T. Bray of Fluid Systems designs first multi leaf spiral wound element

    1968

    Toray starts research on reverse osmosis membranes

    1969

    IDE conducts first successful pilot of 3-effect MED with horizontal aluminum tubes in Tel Baruch, Israel

    1969

    DuPont Comercializes 4-inch B-9 brackish element & first. RO energy recovery patent granted to Hashemi

    1970's

    Concerns about water scarcity and pollution led to increased interest in water reuse for non-potable applications such as landscape irrigation and toilet flushing Asahi produced salt from brine using ED membranes in the early 1970s

    1970

    SIDEM established

    1971

    Sidem installs the first MED-TVC; a 40 m3/d unit in Les Saintes, Caribbean

    1971

    Aromatic polyamide membrane patented by Richter-Hoehn and assigned to DuPont

    1972

    Aqua-Chem (now Aquatech) awarded Spray-Film MED paten

    1972

    Interfacial composite membrane developed by John Cadotte

    1972

    First BWRO plant commissioned by Metito using 89 elements in

    1973

    Hydranautics Started R&D for Industrialization of separation membrane

    1973

    First commercial vertical tube MED installed by Aiton; a 1,300 m3/d in Gibraltar

    1974

    Toray established water division to run the RO Membrane business

    1974

    First SWRO plant commissioned using DuPont B-10 elements in Bermuda by Polymetrics

    1974

    Ionics developed a variation on ED known as electrodialysis reversal (EDR)

  2. 1975

    IDE receives patent on use of aluminum tubes in horizontal shell MED with brine and product flash chambers

    1976

    DuPont commercializes 8-inch B-10 seawater element

    1977

    California's Water Factory 21 injets reclaimed effluent using RO into coastal barrier to prevent saltwater intrusion

    1977

    FRP vessels introduced by Fluid Systems

    1978

    Cadotte receives 344' patent for first fully aromatic thin film composite (FT-30) membrane and assigns to FilmTec

    1979

    Fluytec established

    1979

    12,000 m3/d jeddah SWRO commissioned using spiral wound polyamide membrane by Fluid Systems

    1980's - 1900's

    Advances in treatment technology and increased regulatory support led to the widespread adoption of water reuse for a variety of applications including groundwater recharge, industrial processes, and even potable reuse in some regions

    1980

    Flowserve established

    1981

    Aquatech established

    1983

    Al Jubail Phase 2 (KSA) installs 40 MSF units producing 1,137,467 m3/d, the largest dual-purpose plant in the world

    1984

    IDE installs first dual-purpose MED demo plant, an 18,000 m3/d MED coupled to a 50 MW turbine, in Ashdod, Israel international Pipeline Products Limited t/a INPIPE PRODUCTS™ established (first supply to the water desalination sector was in 2006)

    1984

    Dow Chemical acquires FilmTec

    1984

    International Pipeline Products Limited t/a iNPIPE PRODUCTS established (first supply to the water desalination sector was in 2006)

    1985

    Metito established in Beirut, Lebanon as the first and foremost company in Middle East and the Gulf Area specializing in Water Treatment.

    1986

    Hydranautics' Shiga Plant started up as the world's first RO/UF plan

    1987

    Nitto acquires Hydranautics in California USA

    1988

    56.800 m3/d Jeddah SWRO commissioned using cellulose triacetate hollow fiber membranes by Toyobo

    1989

    CPA (composite polyamide) membrane patented by Hydranautics

  3. 1990

    First large SW plant fitted with Spiral wound membranes and reverse running pumps as recovery devices. Las Palmas III (6 x 6.000 m3/day)

    1991

    Santa Barbara, California constructs 25.360 m3/d emergency SWRO Plant

    1991

    Sidem installs 4,540 m3/d MED in Qatar

    1992

    272,500 m3/d Yuma, Arizona brackish RO project commissioned

    1993

    Court rules that FT-30 Cadotte patent is owned by US government and all users must pay a royalty

    1993

    Lantania started to develop water projects

    1993

    Sulzer First deliveries to SWRO Desalination plants in Spain

    1993

    American Water Chemicals established

    1994

    Fisia Italimpianti installs 6 x 56,775 m3/d MSF at Al Taweelah, United Arab Emirates

    1994

    First low-fouling membrane introduced by TriSep

    1995

    ESPA (energy-saving polyamide) membrane introduced by Hydranautics

    1995

    SACYR AGUA established

    1996

    Seven Seas Water established

    1997

    Doosan awarded MSF project for first IWPP project at Al Taweelah A2, in Abu Dhabi

    1999

    First large scale plant with Pelton wheel as recovery device (15% power saving) Bahia de Palma (45.000 m3/ed)

    1999

    IDA installs largest MVC installation, a 6x3,000 m3/d installation in Sardinia, Italy

    1999

    340,000 m3/d Mery Sur Oise (Paris) plant commissioned using Dow NF membranes to remove organics

    1999

    Sidem supplies world's largest MED-TVC installation at Taweelah UAE with 14x17,124 m3/d units

  4. 2000

    High profile potable reuse projects are commissioned in California, Texas, and other regions, demonstrating the feasibility of using treated wastewater as a drinking water source.

    2000

    DuPont abandons desalination membrane business

    2000

    Waterieau established

    2000

    Water Treatment Solutions-H20 Innovation established

    2001

    SAWACO Water Desalination established

    2001

    Savener established

    2002

    18-inch diameter MegaMagnum element introduced by Koch Membrane Systems

    2003

    Doosan commissions 283,875 m3/d MSF in the first MSF/SWRO hybrid installation at Fujairah LUAE

    2003

    Dual open-ended cellulose triacetate hollow fiber membrane introduced by Toyobo

    2003

    SWC (seawater composite) membrane introduced by Hydranautics

    2004

    Fisia talimpianti installs 6 x 75,700 m3/d MSF units at Shuweihat, United Arab Emirates

    2004

    Sulzer-First deliveries for large SWRO plants using Pressure Center Concept

    2005

    Sidem installs world's largest MED-TVC unit at 36,335 m3/d in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

    2005

    The world's largest water reclamation plant with Toray's RO membrane started operation 320,000m3/d, Sulaibiya, State of Kuwait

    2005

    274,000 m3/d Ashkelon plant is Israel's first large-scale seawater RO producing water at $0.50/m3

    2005

    881,150 m3/d Shuaibah MSF plant (Saudi Arabia) world's largest Desal project awarded to Doosan

    2006

    Lab-scale carbon nanotube membrane developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

    2006

    Water Treatment Solutions acquisition of Membrane Systems Corporation, which is specialized in membrane filtration systems Intended mainly for municipal clients.

    2006

    Thin-film nanocomposite membrane developed at UCLA

    2006

    Sidem awarded world's largest MED-TVC installation in Marafiq, Saudi Arabia with total capacity of 800,000 m3/d

    2007

    10,000 m3/d system at PowerSeraya, Singapore first to use 16 inch dia. seawater elements by GrahamTek

    2007

    Water Treatment Solutions- Acquisition of Sigma Environmental Solutions inc. in Calgary, Alberta, to expand the company's presence in Western Canada and further develop its offer to oil & gas and mining industries.

    2007

    130,000 m3/d plant at Kwinana, Perth is Australia's first large-scale seawater RO facility

    2008

    70 MGD Ground Water Replenishment Project commissioned in Orange County California

    2008

    Water Treatment Solutions Acquisition of Itasca Systems inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Reinforces the company's expertise in industrial process water treatment. especially within the biofuels industry. Addition of a 37,000 sq. ft. manufacturing and assembly plant in the U.S. Midwest. Acquisition of Wastewater Technology inc. in Monterey, Virginia, Offers an enhanced level of expertise in wastewater treatment and water reuse.

    2008

    Fisia Italimpianti commissions 80,300 m3/d MSF Units-world's largest at Al Taweelah B. Abu Dhabi, Extension

    2008

    Kuwait's first large-scale SWRO- the 136,260 m3/d Shuwaikh project-was awarded to Doosan

    2009

    Water Treatment Solutions- Acquisition of Professional Water Technologies (PWT), specialized in the formulation and manufacturing of membrane filtration specialty chemicals.

  5. 2010

    1,025,000 m3/d Ras Al-Khair (Ras Azzour) desalination project awarded to Doosan and Saudi Archirodon

    2010

    Sydney Desalination Plant established

    2010

    Water reclamation plant with Toray's RO membrane started operation, 228,000 m3/d, Changi Singapore

    2011

    189,250 m3/d SWRO at Carlsbad, California, USA, approaches final hurdle as a Water Purchase Agreement is released for public comment

    2011

    ABS Pumps acquired by Sulzer

    2012

    Aqua Science and Technology Ltd established

    2013

    Sorek Desalination Plant will be one of the world's largest Reverse Osmosis facilities and will supply approximately 20% of the municipal water demand in israel;

    2013

    Desalination plant to be built on the shores of Fujairah over the next two and half years. The plant, part of an extension to the Fujairah F1 independent Water and Power Plant in Al Qidfa, aims to achieve a specific energy consumption of 3.7 kilowatt hours for every cubic meter of water produced.

    2014

    Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) has announced plans to start building the world's largest desalina- tion plant in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia, northwest of Jeddah, 600,000 m3/d, with anticipated completion in 2018

    2014

    OSMOSUN (until recently known as Mascara) established

    2014

    LG Water Solutions established

    2014

    Future Trends: Solar Desalination, Membrane Distillation, Forward Osmosis, Graphene

    2016

    Almar Water Solutions established

    2016

    Aqua Science and Technology- Acquisition of Utility Partners LLC to provide state government, industrial, and municipal clients with innovative and cost-effective solutions for utility system management

    2018

    Aqua Science and Technology- Acquisition of operation & maintenance company Hays Util South Corporation in Texas

    2019

    Aqua Science and Technology - Acquisition of Genesys, a chemicals company in the United Kingdom

    2020

    Aqua Science and Technology- H20 Innovation is awarded Water Company of the Year at the 2020 Global Water Awards

    2021

    Aqua Science and Technology- Acquisitions of JCO, Inc, and of Environmental Consultants, LLC, solidifying H20 Innovation's Operation & Maintenance business line in the New York region

    2022

    Aqua Science and Technology- Acquisition of Leader Evaporator Co., Inc., strengthening H20 Innovation's position in the Maple Industry. Listing of H2O innovation's common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange

    2022

    Toray received RO membrane order for the world's largest seawater desalination plant, 909,200 m3/d, Al Taweelah, United Arab Emirates

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