The objective of the NAWADES project is the development of a membrane system for seawater desalination that does not suffer from organic fouling and inorganic scaling.

Reduced efficiency in reverse osmosis membranes, are mainly due to two effects:

• Concentration polarization, caused by a concentration increase near the membrane surface;
• Membrane fouling caused by organic solutes and microbial effects.

These two main topics are the focus of the NAWADES, namely through the reduction of concentration polarization and organic fouling.

To reach this goal the NAWADES project will investigate, design, produce, and intensively and critically test the new water desalination filter technology from four points of view:

• The structure of the filter;
• The materials used to build the filter;
• The coating treatments applied to the surface of the filter, and;
• The filtration process.