Australian re-elected to International Desalination Association

Gary Crisp, global business leader - desalination at engineering and environmental consulting company GHD, has been re-elected as a director of the International Desalination Association (IDA) for 2013-15.

Crisp is the only Australian of the 16 elected members at the IDA - a leading information and professional development body for the global desalination industry. He has 34 years of water engineering experience and is currently working on three desalination plants in California and one in Mexico.

Crisp was also instrumental in delivering Australia’s first major desalination plant in Perth; GHD has now worked on 14 plants in the country in total. He said, “There is no doubt that without desalination, [Perth] would have run out of water.

“Australia’s major desalination plants show the world that desalination is a sustainable solution to water shortages and climate variability,” Crisp said. “The plants’ energy needs are offset by agreements to purchase electricity from renewable sources. The facilities also meet strict discharge and environmental monitoring requirements.”

Crisp is also passionate about water re-use based on similar reverse osmosis technology to desalination.