When the Taps Run Dry – Will Technology Solve the Water Crisis?

What can we do when there is no more water? Will technology solve the problem?

The drought of summer 2018 proved that water security is an issue also in Sweden. Globally, humans are consuming freshwater at an unprecedented pace and the situation is further exacerbated by climate change and population increase. So how ready are we for an ever increasingly hot climate? How do we safeguard the human right to safe, sufficient and affordable water?

This seminar will discuss the situation in Sweden as well as Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Desalination is often presented as a solution to the shortage of freshwater – but is it really that simple? Can technology save us from our self-inflicted water crisis?

Some questions this seminar will aim to answer include:

– Will Stockholm run out of water? How well-prepared are we for a water shortage?
– Do companies and innovators hold the solution?- What can we learn from drier regions such as the Middle East?
– What are some of the dangers of large-scale desalination plants?
– How does the technology behind desalination work?

Programme

• 9:00 Welcome and Introductions
Sarah Breslin, Stockholm International Water Institute

• 9:10 Presentations
Prof. Bo Olofsson – Groundwater Specialist at KTH
Evan Klintner – Desalination expert at Helios Innovations
Malcolm Aw – Executive Chairman, Founder and CTO of Solar Water PLC

• 10:10 Coffee break

• 10:30 Presentations cont.
Ingegerd Rosborg, PhD – Drinking Water Researcher at KTH
Andrew Martin, PhD – Professor at The Department of Energy Technology at KTH

• 11:10 Audience Q&A

REGISTRATION IS MANDATORY IF YOU WANT BREAKFAST – however drop-ins admitted on the day!

Venue name

KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Venue Address

Loungen, entréplan, Teknikringen 10B (SEED-huset), KTH Campus