Pioneering a Sustainable Water Future
The unmistakable symptoms of climate change—rising temperatures and increasingly prolonged droughts—highlight a pressing global need: to prepare for a future with less water, which must be shared among growing populations in the world’s most crowded areas. This inevitable increase in demand for this essential resource is driving the launch of projects and studies aimed at reducing the cost of desalination processes. Enter Idiwater, a European Union-funded public-private collaboration where 16 operators from Europe and Africa are working together.
Why the Canary Islands?
The Archipelago was the natural choice to develop this initiative. It’s easy to understand why when you recall that in 1964, Lanzarote was home to Europe’s first desalination plant. Since then, the Islands’ relationship with reverse osmosis—the process that removes salt from seawater to make it suitable for human consumption and irrigation—has been intensive. Every day, nearly 300 operational plants across the autonomous community desalinate 588,057 cubic meters of water; that’s part of a global effort producing over 200 million cubic meters.
The Heart of the Idiwater Project
Idiwater is led by the Canary Islands Technological Institute (ITC), with the local company Elmasa Tecnología del Agua serving as the pillar for the workstream researching pre-treatments and cleaning strategies. A major factor driving up the cost of desalination is the need for technical shutdowns to clean the membranes that make the process possible. These membranes accumulate “biofouling”—microorganisms like algae and bacteria—which reduces the system’s efficiency. By tackling this issue, the project also aims to reduce energy consumption and the use of chemical cleaning products.
“We are seeking more precise operational strategies to maintain the membranes with less impact, greater efficiency, and higher system reliability,” summarizes Javier Sánchez, Director of Operations and Maintenance at Elmasa Tecnología del Agua.
A Collaborative Transnational Effort
Alongside Elmasa and the ITC, fourteen other entities from Cape Verde, Ghana, Mauritania, and Senegal are collaborating. This focus on regional partnership is why the funding from Brussels is channeled through the Interreg MAC 2021-2027 program, which aims to boost research, technological development, and innovation. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) contributes 85% of the approved €4,134,078.82 budget. The initiative was launched over a year ago, in October 2024, and will run until September 2028.
From Theory to Practice
In recent weeks, Elmasa has completed construction on a pilot plant where tests will be conducted to demonstrate the project’s viability before moving to the commercial phase. With this testing ground now built, the process of making adjustments and collecting data to evaluate the implemented innovations is accelerating. “Idiwater allows for better testing,” details Javier Sánchez. Until now, these experiments had to be performed on a single membrane, whereas now “we can study the behavior across six.” In other words, the research phase more closely mirrors real-world procedures, yielding data that is more accurate and applicable.
Leveraging Local Expertise for Global Impact
As part of the Canary Islands’ strategy to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on tourism, innovation in sectors where the Islands are already leaders plays a crucial role. While research is possible in any field, doing so in an area with ample accumulated experience offers distinct advantages. The Director of Operations and Maintenance at Elmasa highlights the opportunity to “link operational experience with applied innovation.” The expertise built up over decades allows for quicker evaluation of results, as innovations can be tested on-site. This is the case for tourism, port logistics and management, astronomy, and of course, water desalination.
Providing Real Solutions to Global Challenges
Idiwater puts the autonomous community on the global technology map. Hundreds of eyes are on this project, which aims to position the Canary Islands as a contributor of “real solutions to global challenges,” affirms Sánchez. Beyond its external impact, the initiative also includes “a training component aimed at attracting and training young technical talent,” according to Elmasa. Ultimately, it promises to boost the professional and technological ecosystem of the water sector within the Canary Islands, fostering homegrown expertise for a more sustainable future.
