- Twelve projects will receive federal funding for desalination and water reuse research.
- The projects are located across eight states.
- Federal funding totals $9.2 million, with another $7.7 million in cost-sharing.
- Researchers will study ways to reduce energy use, recover more water, and manage waste brine.
- Several projects focus on making reverse osmosis treatment more efficient.
Friday, August 7, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Alliance for Water Innovation have selected 12 projects designed to improve desalination and water reuse technologies
across the United States.
The projects will examine some of the difficult problems associated with turning salty or previously used water into usable supplies. Those include high energy demands, clogged treatment membranes and the disposal of concentrated salty water left behind after treatment.
Federal funding for the projects totals $9.2 million. Another $7.7 million will come through cost sharing, bringing total funding to $16.9 million.
The projects are located in eight states. Funding will be allocated through the National Alliance for Water Innovation and remains subject to negotiation.
Finding Better Ways to Handle Waste Brine.
Several of the projects focus on a major challenge in desalination: what to do with the concentrated waste that remains after water is treated.
Reverse osmosis works by pushing water through membranes that separate water from salts and other substances. The process produces a concentrated waste stream known as reverse osmosis concentrate, or waste brine.
That brine can contain pesticides, boron, heavy metals and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS.
A team led by Auburn University will develop a system designed to treat this waste while recovering freshwater for reuse.
The proposed technology combines three electrochemical treatment processes. Researchers say it could break down persistent organic contaminants, including pesticides and pharmaceuticals, while capturing diluted heavy metals and separating nonhazardous salts.
Another project, led by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, will look at whether materials in brine can become economically useful instead of simply being treated as waste.
Researchers will study ways to recover and purify potentially valuable elements from brackish-water desalination concentrate. The team will also examine where such products might provide an economic benefit to communities.
Trying to Recover More Water.
Another challenge is getting as much usable water as possible from brackish supplies while producing less waste.
A University of Michigan-led team will develop a new type of ion-exchange membrane designed to remove salts that can cause scaling before the water reaches a reverse osmosis system.
Scaling occurs when salts build up and can eventually plug treatment membranes. Removing those salts earlier could allow a treatment plant to recover more water while producing less waste brine.
Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory will take another approach.
Their project will develop a next-generation membrane system for treating waste brine from inland brackish-water desalination and wastewater recycling.
Current methods can require energy-intensive heat treatment, large evaporation ponds or disposal in deep wells. The proposed system could instead desalinate the brine while converting dissolved materials into potentially useful acids and bases.
Machine Learning Could Help Desalination.
Researchers will also investigate whether machine learning can make desalination more efficient.
A team led by the University of California, Los Angeles will use machine learning to improve the pretreatment process that occurs before reverse osmosis.
Water conditions can change with the seasons and with differences in temperature, acidity, flow rates and treatment needs. Researchers plan to develop a system capable of adjusting to those changing conditions.
The project will combine different chemicals used to remove suspended material with an advanced filtration system.
The goal is to develop a pretreatment process that can operate efficiently under varying conditions.
Matching Water Treatment With the Electric Grid.
Desalination can require large amounts of electricity. Three projects will examine how water treatment operations could work more closely with the electric power system.
A University of California, Irvine-led project will study whether desalination facilities can become more flexible electricity users.
Instead of operating at the same level around the clock, a plant might be able to adjust some operations according to conditions on the electric grid. Researchers will examine what currently limits that flexibility and how its value can be measured.
A Stanford University-led project will work with the City of Santa Barbara’s Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant.
Some desalination facilities can participate in electricity programs that offer lower rates in exchange for reducing power consumption when demand on the grid is high.
Researchers will use the National Alliance for Water Innovation’s Water Treatment Technoeconomic Assessment Platform to identify plant improvements and operating schedules that could reduce costs and carbon emissions.
Another project, led by the Electric Power Research Institute, includes Colorado State University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Salt River Project.
That team will develop a computer modeling framework to examine how water treatment systems and the electric grid could coordinate their operations.
Tackling Mineral Buildup.
Researchers are also looking at the chemicals used to keep minerals from accumulating inside desalination equipment.
These chemicals, called anti-scalants, help prevent minerals from forming deposits on reverse osmosis membranes and pipes.
But leftover anti-scalants in waste brine can create another problem. They may interfere with processes intended to crystallize dissolved salts so that liquid brine waste can be converted into solid material.
A Washington University in St. Louis-led team will study how anti-scalants affect crystallization. Researchers will also develop computer models and an electrochemical process designed to break down leftover anti-scalants and speed up crystallization.
Improving Wastewater Reuse.
Other researchers are concentrating on the reuse of wastewater.
A project led by NALA Membranes, Inc. will examine pretreatment for wastewater that will eventually be reused as drinking water.
Membrane-based treatment faces problems from dissolved organic substances and biofouling, which occurs when unwanted biological material accumulates on treatment surfaces.
The researchers will develop a pretreatment method intended to control biofouling, maintain high water recovery and reduce the cost and complexity of operating reverse osmosis systems.
Using Ultraviolet Light Before Reverse Osmosis.
A University of Colorado Boulder-led project will investigate another way to control fouling before water reaches reverse osmosis membranes.
Ultraviolet light is already used for water disinfection. Researchers will study a newer type of ultraviolet lamp combined with an advanced oxidation process.
The project will examine whether the technology can control organic material and biological fouling while also destroying viruses and other organic contaminants.
3D Printing New Water Treatment Membranes.
A University of Connecticut-led project will explore a very different manufacturing technique: 3D printing.
Researchers have been developing an electrospray-based printing process to produce membranes for desalination and water treatment.
The new project will create porous membranes and test them using real water supplies.
Researchers will examine whether the membranes can efficiently filter water as a single pretreatment step before reverse osmosis. The printing process could also make membrane manufacturing more efficient and allow membrane properties to be customized.
Twelve Projects, Different Pieces of the Same Problem.
The 12 selected projects approach desalination and water reuse from different directions.
Some focus on reducing the amount of waste brine. Others seek to recover useful materials from that waste, prevent membranes from becoming clogged, improve wastewater reuse or coordinate water treatment with the electric grid.
Together, the projects represent $16.9 million in federal funding and cost sharing for research into desalination and water reuse technologies.
The Department of Energy said the technologies are intended to improve energy efficiency while supporting cost-effective and climate-resilient water supplies.
