Fresh water supplies are limited, which has driven the treatment and reuse of nontraditional water to meet water demands. Yet due to the complexity and variability of nontraditional water, existing approaches for treating it are inefficient – the world needs better designs that can offer greater efficiency.

To address this challenge, Argonne is exploring process intensification of water treatment plants to provide required water quality and quantity to meet water demand. Researchers are proposing high-efficiency versatile treatment strategies that are modular in design, and capable of reducing the size and complexity of water treatment plants, and lower operating and capital costs, waste, and risk.