WATER STANDARD's Seawater Desalination Vessel™ (SDV™) delivers a broad range of advantages over land-based desalination systems. The SDV™ delivers a mobile, cost effective, enviromentally responsible solution, producing fresh water in an accelerated time frame.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PORTFOLIO
WATER STANDARD's advantages in commercial vessel-based desalination are supported by its numerous issued patents and pending patent applications. In 2002, the company filed for IP protection of its various technologies. Our patents and applications are filed throughout the world including the North America, South America, Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE
Combining proven processes with proprietary technologies, the SDV™ was designed specifically to preserve the ocean's ecological balance and mitigate enviromental impacts on marine life, coastlines, and air quality. By being located offshore the SDV™ benefits from a better quality feedwater, which reduces the chemical usage and virtually eliminates sludge production. In addition, the environ- mentally designed intake system and patented Multi-Port Diffusion System ensures compliance with stringent global discharge standards and achieves operating performance benchmarks that cannot be easily replicated onshore. The impact of heritage, cultural or archeological site issues often faced by land-based plants are largely avoided by the SDV's™ offshore location. From an energy efficiency standpoint, the onboard power generation includes full emission controls and the RO System is efficiently designed to minimize the carbon footprint.

SELF-GENERATES POWER
The SDV™ efficiently self-generates power onboard, eliminating the need to be located near or connected to a power grid. Energy efficiency is increased with no transmission line-loss between power plant and desalination site. With power generation onboard, WATER STANDARD can hedge its energy costs to provide a greater degree of cost certainty related to future increases in tariffs and energy costs pass-throughs. The SDV™ efficiently utilizes all waste heat and employs systems to reduce emissions.

RELIABLE AND MOBILE
Because the SDV™ is offshore - optimally one to three or more kilometers from the coast and mobile, it can be easily moved in response to extreme weather conditions, natural catastrophes, or geopolitical and socio-economic instability. Reliability is increased with limited exposure to disruption of the local labor force or to the delivery of equipment or supplies. Additionally, its desalination process is not subject to land-based brownouts, blackouts, or other land-based interruptions because the SDV™ self-generates power onboard. This also allows the vessel to be used as an emergency supply source. At the end of the SDV's™ useful life, mobility contributes to an easier and more cost effective decommissioning process.

SPEED TO PRODUCTION
Depending on the size of the production vessel, the SDV™ can begin providing fresh water within 16 months under normal circumstances and in some cases 12 to 14 months - generally faster than land-based plants. Complexity of permitting requirements will often be reduced, resulting in a more efficient production timeline than for a land-based desalination plant. In most cases, pilot studies can be eliminated because of the intake of a cleaner source water and the conservative design parameters of the pretreatment system.

SCALABLE AND COST COMPETITIVE
The SDV™ can be scaled to deliver a capacity of 5 to 50 million gallons per day (mgd) or approximately 20,000 to 200,000 cubic meters per day (m³/d). The design uses a standard modular approach on both small and large systems. This replication minimizes the level of site-specific design, reducing costs in design and construction. Also, the produced volumes of water can be increased over time on a phased approach, without the need for the vessel to return to dry dock for additional conversion. The SDV's™ offshore location eliminates purchasing expensive coastal land and reduces the costs associated with pretreatment. Although desalination was once perceived as too expensive an option for producing water, membrane cost and energy usage have dropped dramatically. WATER STANDARD takes advantage of these reduced costs and energy efficiencies to provide competitive pricing.

CUSTOMIZED, FLEXIBLE CONTRACTING
WATER STANDARD works with each client to customize contracts for their needs. The individual or regional entities can contract on a short-term, long-term (up to 20 years) or on-demand basis, including contract design to service multiple locations as a flexible adjunct to a balanced water supply portfolio. Examples of structures include, but are not limited to, long-term water supply contracts under the traditional BOO model of Build Own Operate or partner joint ventures. Under BOO, WATER STANDARD can self-finance and own an SDV™, while the client only pays a unit cost for water. However, ownership structure can be negotiated under a joint venture.

AVOIDS CONSTRUCTION DISRUPTIONS
Because the SDV™ is converted in a shipyard, there is no disruption associated with land-based site construction, including habitat changes, environmental issues, noise pollution, increased traffic and other community issues.