water.desalination+reuse xxxx -xxx 20xx subject 17
BRAZIL
Brazil is n the grip of the Petrobras
corruption scandal, in which almost
a third of the ruling party's cabinet
is under investigation. While water
projects are not taking immediate
precedence, the demand for fresh
water, particularly in the northeast, is
driving some activity.
Maria da Paz community project in Northern Brazil welcomes the
governor of Rio Grande do Norte State, mayor of João Camara, Brazil's
ministry of the environment, and representatives from the International
Desalination Association, World Bank, Global Solar Council, Abdul Latif
Jamil world water and food security laboratory at Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, and Ben Gurion University of the Negev department of
solar energy and environmental physics.
Maria da Paz is one of 500 installed solar-power desalination projects
of the Aqua Doce programme, which will benefit half a million people
by 2019. In Brazil's semi-arid, northern region, nine million people living
in rural areas suffer extreme poverty and the effects of climate change
on fresh water availability. Solar-powered reverse osmosis offers an
environmentally sustainable supply of clean drinking water, while the
concentrate is used for livestock.
At other Aqua Doce sites, the process is fully circular, using the
reject water to grow tilapia fish, and water from the fish tanks to irrigate
halophyte plants, providing fodder for goats and sheep.
