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Silvio Oliva

Silvio Oliva ha ricoperto per oltre 10 anni la carica di Amministratore Delegato e Membro del Consiglio
di Amministrazione delle Fisia Italimpianti, società appartenente al Gruppo WeBuild (in precedenza noto
come Gruppo Impregilo). Durante la sua carriera ha lavorato per oltre 35 anni nel Gruppo WeBuild, con
una significativa esperienza internazionale svolta, fra gli altri Paesi, in Colombia, USA, Turchia e Paesi
GCC.
Attualmente svolge attività di consulenza nel settore Dissalazione e Trattamento Acque, è membro del
Board of Directors dell’International Desalination Association and Water Reuse (IDA) e collabora altresì
con varie organizzazioni collegate con il mercato delle acque sia in Italia che all’estero.
In ANIMP ha il ruolo di Delegato per la Sezione Acqua, recentemente costituita.

Desalination: a technology against

water scarcity

The desalted water represents one of the most important non conventional sources to help
fighting the water scarcity.
In the world there are more than 20,000 desalination plants with a total capacity exceeding 100
million cubic meters per day.
The dominant technology is the Reverse Osmosis (RO), which is using membranes. However
other technologies are coming up and may represent in the short-medium term a valid and
more efficient option to the RO: distillation, forward osmosis, subsea desalination, graphene
membranes.
Desalinated water can be used as potable for human consumption, for industrial use and in
agricolture.
The environmental side of the desalination is represented by the discharge of water with high
saline concentration (brine) into the sea. This impact is mitigated with the implementation -prior
to the construction - of environmental studies, which allow the adoption of high level design
standards and minimum impact on the subsea ecosystem.
While during many years the desalinated water was expensive and its use was therefore limited,
in recent times the cost of water through desalinations has become quite affordable and has
permitted its adoption by a larger number of countries. Subject to the energy cost volatility, the
cost of desalinated water can range between 0,40 € and 1,00 € per cubic meter for large scale
installations.

Impiantistica Italiana - Gennaio-Febbraio 2023 63