Water management: Optimal water network synthesis

The escalation of water scarcity concerns has become one of the major industrial challenges due to the rapidly expanding gap between the global water demand and limited freshwater supply (Jury and Vaux 2007). Even though the natural water cycle contributes to the replenishment of freshwater reserves, the constantly increasing freshwater demand often compels water use from underground aquifers or surface water sources, such as rivers and lakes, at rates much higher than their ability to recharge. As a result, many industries have been required to find alternative water supply strategies, especially in areas where they are unable to bring their overall water supply and demand into balance. Many recent developments have made water desalination an increasingly attractive and cost-effective solution that delivers high-quality freshwater, which could meet industrial requirements, as an alternative. However, the highly saline and dense by-product brine discharges often pose an environmental problem that should be considered when installing new desalination plants. Therefore, even though there are many challenges associated with limited freshwater sources, the environmental apprehension toward by-product brine streams that are produced as a result of desalinated freshwater alternatives is also a problem (Ahmad and Baddour 2014).