Desalination has a more negative reputation than other industries

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

The first reputational analysis of the water industry and desalination technology in Chile was presented at the International Congress of the Latin American Association for Desalination and Water Reuse (Aladyr) 2024, highlighting that desalination technology has average visibility and favorability, but with predominantly negative feelings and high levels of aggressiveness.

At the most important event in the desalination and water reuse industry in Latin America, an analysis was presented on the reputation of this activity in comparison with sectors such as energy, mining, agriculture, forestry and fishing.

The study revealed that, although the water industry enjoys high visibility, its reputation is rather negative compared to agriculture, energy, forestry and mining, surpassing only the fishing industry.

Furthermore, desalination technology showed average visibility and favorability, but with predominantly negative sentiments and high levels of aggressiveness, below wind and hydropower.

The results of the report “ Desalination Reputation: Analysis of Perceptions and Proposals for Sustainable Development of the Industry” were presented at the International Congress of the Latin American Association for Desalination and Water Reuse (Aladyr) 2024.

Nicolás Ibieta, member of Water Positive, partner of Aladyr and CEO of PuntoCero Consultores, together with Pablo Beytía, founder and CEO of Monitor Social,   They presented the methodology of the study that measured the perception of the sector between 2022 and 2024.

The analysis included the most influential news and videos of the period, as well as Google searches, generating impact metrics through language processing and artificial intelligence.

Nicolás Ibieta highlighted desalination as an essential source of water in the face of global water stress, pointing out that mining has been the main driver of this technology in Chile. “It is possible that this association has generated a negative perception in the population. However, we believe that the lack of information on desalination and water reuse is a key factor in significantly improving its reputation,” he said.

For its part   Pablo Beytía indicated that the evidence shown in the analysis revealed an industry with high visibility, but with unfavorable communication. “That is to say, the worst of the scenarios. However, desalination has an average visibility and favorability of communications, which is the positive news, but the feelings are notably negative and it has high levels of aggressiveness: it has more negative feelings than solar, wind and hydraulic energy.

On the line,   The representative of Water Positive and CEO of PuntoCero Consultores, Nicolás Ibieta, indicated that   "The formula to gain people's trust in the desalination industry and technology is to combine reason and emotion in our communication and, especially, in our engagement and relationships. Desalination must be for the population and that will build the proper license to operate."

Finally, Ibieta stressed the importance of a National Plan for Water and Energy Coverage in Coastal Communities, which includes drinking water and renewable energy projects for small-scale coves, along with early education programs and direct links with coastal communities, in order to strengthen communication and understanding of the benefits of desalination.