The Desalination Market and the Potential of Brine Mining

The desalination market is expanding at record speed and paving the way for technologies capable of recovering valuable minerals from waste streams: water is becoming a driver of the circular economy.

The race to desalination is reshaping the global water landscape. In a world marked by water crises, rapid urbanisation and climate change, more and more countries are investing in plants capable of turning brackish or seawater into a vital resource for communities, agriculture and industry. According to the latest data from Mordor Intelligence, the global desalination market is currently worth around USD 16.5 billion and could exceed USD 25 billion by 2030, with an average annual growth rate close to 9%. This expansion is driven by the need to ensure water security and by rapid technological advances that make processes more efficient, sustainable and easier to integrate with renewable sources.SAFETY

A Growing Sector Across the Globe

From the coasts of the Middle East to North Africa, Latin America and Asia, desalination has become a strategic priority. Advances in reverse osmosis and membrane filtration technologies, together with the integration of solar and wind power, are reducing both consumption and emissions. 

While urban and agricultural uses remain predominant, the industrial sector is the one expanding the fastest. Industries such as data centres, pharmaceuticals, microelectronics and food production require highly efficient water processes, making desalination a key component of the emerging water economy.

From Water Production to Resource Valorisation

Within a circular economy framework, desalination is no longer just a technology for producing fresh water, but an integrated system for resource management. The plants of the future will be able to recover energy, raw materials and valuable by-products, contributing to a more sustainable production model. This is where brine mining comes in: a practice that allows the extraction of critical minerals from desalination waste, turning brine into a new industrial opportunity.

The Hidden Wealth of Brine

Brine, a saline by-product, is rich in strategic elements such as lithium, magnesium, potassium, sodium and boron. Through innovative separation processes, these can be recovered while simultaneously reducing operating costs and environmental impact.
With global demand for critical minerals soaring — a market already worth more than USD 2.5 trillion — brine mining has the potential to become a sustainable and competitive alternative to traditional extraction, offering both economic and environmental benefits.

Countries such as Saudi Arabia are already pioneering projects to recover minerals from brine, transforming an environmental challenge into a new industrial supply chain. In Europe, research initiatives such as SEA4VALUE aim to develop modular, circular systems for extracting critical raw materials. 

From Brine Valorisation to “Zero Liquid Discharge”

A key concept gaining traction worldwide is brine valorisation: not merely disposing of brine, but transforming it into marketable products such as salt, gypsum, potash fertilisers and magnesium. According to ENOWA — the water and energy company managing NEOM, the innovative megacity Saudi Arabia is developing in the middle of the desert — this vision fits perfectly within the principles of the circular economy and sustainable resource management. At the same time, the goal of Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) is becoming increasingly widespread: desalination plants that discharge no brine into the sea, completely eliminating risks to marine ecosystems. Achieving this requires a combination of renewable energy, advanced ionic separation systems and process chains that enable salt crystallisation.

Significant challenges remain, including cost competitiveness, process complexity and reducing energy consumption. However, technological innovation is providing increasingly concrete solutions, bringing the sector closer to a new stage of industrial maturity.

Fisia Italimpianti’s Role in Desalination

A global leader in desalination and water treatment, Fisia Italimpianti is at the forefront of this transformation. The company develops next-generation desalination plants around the world, characterised by high energy efficiency, reduced environmental impact and the ability to integrate with resource recovery and reuse systems. Fisia is closely following developments in brine mining, recognising its potential to transform brine from an environmental issue into a source of valuable raw materials. With its know-how and sustainability-driven vision, Fisia Italimpianti contributes to building an industrial model in which water is not only a resource to be produced, but a catalyst for innovation, circular economy solutions and sustainable development.