The 21st century has opened with a disturbing paradox: humanity has never developed so much technology to manage water, yet more than 2.2 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water. Half of the world’s population already lives under severe scarcity conditions, and entire regions such as Northeast Brazil have endured over a decade of drought, with depleted reservoirs and communities in critical situations. This reality simultaneously compromises food security, public health, and the competitiveness of millions of businesses. The impact is equivalent to losing water volumes each year comparable to the annual consumption of entire countries—an unacceptable waste given the magnitude of the crisis.
In this scenario, SWEETSEA emerges as a visionary alternative. Through modified reverse osmosis and selective nanofiltration, it transforms salty or brackish water into high‑quality drinking water and retains more than 60 essential minerals that conventional desalination removes. The result is not lifeless distilled liquid, but a resource with a balanced mineral profile, safe for human consumption, beneficial for agriculture, and with therapeutic potential supported by scientific studies.
The project turns desalination into a strategic source of water neutrality and shared value. SWEETSEA not only provides water to households, businesses, and farmers: it also enables reporting of verifiable volumetric benefits under the VWBA 2.0 methodology, generates positive water credits, and consolidates a narrative aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and the most demanding ESG expectations of the global market.
The central challenge addressed by SWEETSEA stems from a technical and environmental contradiction: conventional desalination produces water in arid regions, but delivers a liquid without minerals, dependent on costly chemical remineralization and mixtures with already overexploited freshwater sources. This situation generates efficiency losses, increased costs, and additional pressure on aquifers and basins.
The project introduces a unique strategic opportunity: through modified reverse osmosis and selective nanofiltration, it can preserve more than 60 essential minerals and remove only harmful salts. Each installed module transforms thousands of cubic meters of salty or brackish water into mineralized drinking water, ready for human consumption and with immediate agricultural applications. The direct impact translates into greater soil and crop resilience, reduced chemical use, improved nutrition, and relief on continental freshwater sources.
The benefits are not limited to the short term. In the first months of operation, communities gain access to safe water; in the medium term, local agriculture becomes more productive and pressure on reservoirs decreases; and in the long term, co‑investing companies consolidate certified water neutrality and reinforced ESG reputation. The model involves a specialized technology developer (ESL Water Technology), local operators in Brazil, and strategic partners for certification and independent verification.
Its modular and scalable nature allows replication in any existing desalination plant, across different geographies and sectors. Acting now is critical because the water crisis cannot wait: each day without regenerative solutions means more depleted aquifers and more vulnerable communities. Companies in sectors such as food, beverage, energy, and retail can lead this transition. By doing so, they gain regulatory compliance, public visibility, competitive differentiation, and the ability to report Volumetric Water Benefits in a traceable and verifiable way, fully aligned with the Water Positive agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The implementation of SWEETSEA is organized in clearly defined phases under a robust technical framework. In the initial diagnostic stage, the quality of the available resource, hydrological conditions of the basin, and socioeconomic demand are assessed. From there, the modular design of the units is defined, which can operate autonomously or integrate into existing desalination plants. The installation phase includes adapted reverse osmosis equipment and selective nanofiltration, designed to remove harmful salts and contaminants while preserving critical minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. Validation includes physico‑chemical and biological tests confirming cellular safety, nutritional benefits, and compliance with international standards.
In operation, each module can produce tens of thousands of m³ of mineralized drinking water annually, with physical‑digital traceability and reports aligned with VWBA 2.0 methods A‑2, A‑3, and A‑6. Expected benefits include reduced remineralization chemicals, lower energy footprint, and greater agricultural and community resilience. Social benefits include access to safe water, and economic benefits come from efficiency gains and ESG reputation.
Identified risks include technological failures, hydrological variability, and even social resistance to desalinated water. To mitigate these, redundant systems, contingency plans, preventive and predictive maintenance protocols, and shared governance with local authorities are incorporated. Long‑term resilience to climate change is ensured through integration with renewable energies, modular flexibility, and continuous monitoring of quality and flows. Specific protocols exist to prevent saline intrusion, contamination, or critical supply interruptions.
The model is replicable in different coastal basins and industrial sectors, provided that regulatory frameworks for desalination and community support for water solutions exist. Its hybrid nature—grey technology with digital traceability—makes it competitive against other alternatives, combining efficiency, reasonable cost, and positive environmental impact. Public‑private partnerships, independent certifiers, and community actors facilitate scalability and ensure that water benefits are intentional, additional, and traceable, in line with the Water Positive strategy. Scientific validation and quality monitoring reinforce this contribution to public health.
Implementation is carried out in phased stages under an adaptive scheme to ensure technical, social, and environmental results. The first phase corresponds to diagnosis, where the baseline of water quantity and quality, losses, and basin conditions is established, as well as the socioeconomic assessment of demand. Subsequently, the design and installation stage contemplates the integration of SWEETSEA® modules into existing plants or their deployment as independent units, with a nominal capacity of tens of thousands of m³/year. Commissioning includes pilot tests and operational adjustments, followed by a validation phase with physico‑chemical and biological controls under international standards (WHO, ISO), with monitoring instruments such as flow meters, multiparameter probes, and IoT sensors connected to SCADA and blockchain digital platforms. Continuous operation ensures physical water traceability and digital traceability of each cubic meter produced, generating automatic alarms and reports in case of deviations.
The baseline is periodically compared with performance indicators before, during, and after the intervention, measuring produced volumes, quality parameters, energy consumption, and chemical reduction. Data are collected monthly with external laboratory controls and independent audits, ensuring clear comparisons between with‑project and without‑project scenarios. Governance is supported by the participation of technical operators, community beneficiaries, external verifiers, and regulatory authorities, with clear assignment of roles in operation, maintenance, monitoring, and validation.
Protocols include preventive and corrective maintenance, redundant safety systems, contingency plans against technological failures and hydrological variability, and measures against saline intrusion or accidental contamination. Climate resilience is reinforced through integration with renewable energies and modular flexibility. Monitoring is carried out with VWBA/WQBA reports of m³ saved, regenerated, and contaminants removed, incorporating continuous improvement mechanisms based on data feedback and technological updates. This scheme ensures permanence of benefits and the possibility of scaling the model to other basins and sectors with similar conditions.
Technically, the SWEETSEA project consists of the main intervention of transforming salty or brackish water into mineralized drinking water through modified reverse osmosis and selective nanofiltration. The process works in clear stages: offshore intake, pretreatment, selective filtration that removes harmful salts and contaminants, and delivery of water with more than 60 preserved essential minerals. The installed modules have a nominal capacity of tens of thousands of m³ per year and are designed to integrate into existing desalination plants or function as independent units. The entire process aligns with international quality standards such as WHO, ISO, and applicable national legislation.
The relevance of this solution lies in addressing a current challenge: conventional desalination generates distilled water without mineral content, requiring artificial remineralization and intensive chemical use. SWEETSEA changes that baseline by delivering naturally balanced drinking water, reducing CO₂ emissions associated with remineralization processes, and improving public health, food security, and environmental sustainability in the basin.
Expected results include annual production of thousands of m³ of mineralized drinking water per plant, improvement in critical quality parameters (total salinity reduction, contaminant removal, mineral preservation), significant reduction in chemicals, lower energy footprint, and higher agricultural yields. Additional benefits include direct access to water in vulnerable communities and economic benefits from cost reduction, operational resilience, and enhanced ESG reputation.
From a strategic perspective, SWEETSEA contributes to the Water Positive roadmap by generating verifiable water credits under VWBA, ensuring intentionality, additionality, and traceability, and positioning companies as sustainability leaders. The solution is replicable in coastal basins under water stress in Latin America, Africa, Asia, or the Mediterranean, provided that adequate technical and social conditions exist. Partnerships with local operators, governments, and external verifiers facilitate expansion.
The final expected impact is twofold: improving the water balance of the basin and strengthening resilience to climate change, while generating social effects such as local employment, access to safe water, and community empowerment. For investors, clients, and society, SWEETSEA delivers a clear message: it is possible to transform desalination into a regenerative tool aligned with the transition toward a positive water economy.
