Lance Johnson works for The Dow Chemical Company, makers of FILMTEC membranes, as Manager of Global Desalination Projects. In addition to this role he is leading FilmTec's commercialization efforts for 16-inch diameter reverse osmosis elements. Lance has over 24 years of experience in the liquid separation industry. He started his career in Rockford, IL (USA) at Illinois Water Treatment Company (now part of US Filter) where he eventually opened an office in Europe for IWT and lived and worked in Europe for over 14 years. Lance joined Dow in 1991 where he held various positions such as Technical Service, Marketing for specialty membrane separations, and Global Market Manager for FILMTEC membranes.

Lance has been a member of the IDA since 1998 and is a member of AMTA. He is a Director of the Board of the Affordable Desalination Collaboration (ADC) whose mission is to demonstrate that seawater desalination is not only feasible but less energy intensive than other alternatives while providing a sustainable source of quality water. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Western Illinois University.

It is clear that there is an increasing demand around the world for quality water and conventional sources are either no longer sustainable or can no longer provide the quality required. Communities and industry need to seek and evaluate new sources and technologies to meet their future needs. Our dependence upon non-conventional sources such as seawater and wastewater will become even greater in the not so distant future. The IDA is an excellent forum for introducing new technologies and sharing experiences of existing technologies. The IDA can be an excellent vehicle for guiding new developments for the desalination industry based on the needs of its membership.

"Based on the challenges facing us in the future, membranes will play a critical role in solving our world water problems. As a senior representative of a leading membrane supplier I seek to be a strong voice for the membrane industry educating and increasing the IDA membership's awareness of what membranes and the associated technologies can do to sustain and improve our water resources while improving our daily life."

Email: ldjohnson@dow.com