Sidney Loeb His Engineering Work and an Ethical Analysis

4 Sidney Loeb His Engineering Work and an Ethical Analysis 

The reverse osmosis business that Sidney Loeb pioneered is now worth many billion euros annually. Installed reverse osmosis processes produce in excess of 13.5 billion cubic metres of drinking water annually and are now the leading desalination technology on a world basis. Additionally, more than 17,000 small industrial, ship-mounted and household reverse osmosis systems are also in use. Furthermore, the closely related processes of nanofiltration and ultrafiltration are very widely used throughout the manufacmring industries, including pharmaceuticals and food production. Such membrane processes also have important medical applications. 

It is now possible to consider Sidney Loeb s work in the philosophical framework described earlier. Thus, in terms of MacIntyre s description of a practice  

End/Goal—Sidney Loeb made clear in many conversations, lectures and actions that he was motivated by a compassionate concern for the flourishing of those within his community and outside the boundaries of that community. 

Internal goods—Discovery (with Srinivasa Sourirajan) and recognition of the importance of membranes with an anisotropic structure ingenious solution of practical engineering problems in the design, cost-effective construction and safe operation of the world s hrst commercial reverse osmosis plant at Coalinga in California. 

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