From 3000m3/day (3 million Liters
per day) to over 55,000m3
SEA
WATER DESALINATION, WATER RECYCLING and STERILIZATION
Unlimited Desalinated Fresh Water will be Nuclear's biggest gift to Mankind.
People are already being forced to choose between
using the water in their reservoirs for drinking or electricity.
Nuclear's gift to mankind is heat. Heat to make
electricity. Heat to desalinate water for drinking. Heat to recycle
and sterilize water for re-use.
A pint of beer requires 20 gallons of water to make, a cup of coffee 35
gallons, and to produce a hamburger, 630 gallons of water.
Sea Water Desalination, Index:
Introduction: Overview
Part One:
Multistage "Flash" Distillation desalination of sea water
Part Two: Reverse
Osmosis desalination of sea water
Part Three: NDS - Nisan
Desalination Services International
Part Four: Water
Shortages, Recycling, and Sterilization
Proposed nuclear sea water desalination complex
(India)
Japan alone has 8 desalination plants associated with nuclear reactors.
Tampa's Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant Video (History Channel, 7 meg big.)
Like it or not, MEGA-CITIES and their MEGA-SUBURBS are the modern world.
MEGA-CITIES and their MEGA-SUBURBS inhale Fossil Energy and exhale Global Warming.
MEGA-CITIES and their MEGA-SUBURBS inhale Fresh Water and exhale Sewage.
Unlimited Desalinated Fresh Water will be Nuclear's biggest gift to Mankind.
Irrigation water has to be as
pure as rain water or eventually water minerals will poison the cropland we are irrigating.
Nuclear
heat can make sea water rain water pure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination Excellent quick overview of desalination technology.
http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/v36_1_03/article_09.shtml#top India is already doing it. Many Mideast countries are saying they're going to do it. (97% of all water is salt and 2/3 of the fresh water is locked up in ice.)
http://www.carlsbad-desal.com/project_overview.asp The Carlsbad, California, desalination project page on Poseidon Resources' web site.
Sea Water Desalination, Introduction:
Desalination of Sea Water
35 years ago, when I worked in another country, there were water rules that toilets were to be flushed only once a day. Worse, the country was in the tropics. Notice the water tanks on the roof. This is what you do when it may be a week or two between times when water is available. People living in Southern Calyfornia simply don't understand what their environmentalists are setting them up for by blocking nuclear desalination of sea water.
The "Toilet-to-Tap" recycling
facilities starting to spring up in the Southwest call for massive amounts
of electricity.
"Desalination equipment is now in
use in over 120 countries, including Italy, Australia, Spain, Greece, Portugal,
Japan, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Malta, Gibraltar,
Cape Verde and Cyprus.
There are over 21,000 desalination plants worldwide, producing over 3.5 billion
gallons of potable water a day. Overall, desalination plant capacity has
increased exponentially over the past 30 years.
Saudi Arabia leads the world in desalination and relies on it to meet 70 percent
of the country's drinking water needs."
http://www.carlsbad-desal.com/desal_101.asp
Sea
Water Desalination, Part One:
Multistage Flash Distillation
Rain - The source of our fresh water.
Notice how flash desalination duplicates the rain process.
Many different small reactors are available that could be used to provide
the steam.
Fresh from the Sea
By Mark Fischetti - From Scientific American, September, 2007
A combined electrical and
desalination facility could be made
See also the Shevchenko BN350 nuclear combined cycle electrical-desalination plant. (Below)
Boiled by oil
Shoaiba Desalination Plant, Saudi Arabia
This desalination plant currently ranks as the largest in the world and uses multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation. Notice the multiple rows of condensate catchers.
(Notice those boiler house stacks pumping out massive amounts of CO2?)
The overall development at the
Shoaiba site also includes an oil-fired power station, together with a port and
tanker terminal for supplying boiler oil.
http://www.water-technology.net/projects/shuaiba/
Russian Desalination:
Nuclear Heat Powered Multistage Flash Distillation
Shevchenko BN350 nuclear fast reactor and desalination plant situated on the shore of the Caspian Sea. The plant generates 135 MWelectric and also provides steam for an associated desalination plant. Above: View of the reactor hall. Right: Notice the same funnel-shape condensate catchers as in the Scientific American sketch above? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_reactor
Israel Studying Ways To Add Minerals To Desalinated Water.
The Jerusalem Post (5/19, Siegel-Itzkovich) reports that the country's
"Health Ministry has just completed its first-ever survey of Israelis'
water-drinking habits to help experts determine where to add calcium and
magnesium to desalinated water from which vital minerals have been removed."
While "recent studies have shown a connection between the drinking of 'soft
water' lacking minerals and an increase in coronary heart disease," the
ministry announced earlier this week "it was constantly working to ensure
that there were enough minerals in the water that were beneficial to good
health."
Sea
Water Desalination, Part Two:
Electric Pump Reverse Osmosis Desalination
NEWS ITEM:
Tampa Bay Water Leaders Considering "Drought Surcharge."
The St. Petersburg (FL) Times (4/7/09, Pittman) reports, "Tampa Bay Water
leaders are calling a 'drought summit' next month to gather local government
officials together to figure out ways to combat the water crisis. Among the
ideas they will explore: adding a 'drought surcharge' to water bills." The
"region has been caught in a drought for three years, to the point where the
U.S. Geological Survey reported this week that one of its gauges on the
Hillsborough River has reached a record low," while "weather experts predict the
dry spell is likely to continue until at least the start of the rainy season in
June." The article notes, "Tampa Bay Water's 15 billion- gallon reservoir has
already run dry, its desalination plant is struggling and the regional utility
is being forced to rely on pumping water out of the ground - even though that
practice is known to cause private wells, lakes and wetlands to dry up and may
lead to sinkholes."
Tampa, Florida, already has a 25 million gallon-a-day reverse osmosis desalination plant that supplies 10% of the Tampa area water, assuring that a drought won't leave Tampa dry. California has about 20 desalination plants in the planning stage. There are over 1,500 oil-burning desalination plants in the mideast all burning oil. Unfortunately, Reverse Osmosis Desalination technology has proven much more expensive and troublesome than Flash Distillation Desalination.
Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination: http://www.tampabaywater.org/watersupply/tbdesal.aspx (Article below is from the Tampa Bay Water web site.)
Reverse Osmosis is used to extract fresh water from Tampa Bay's salt water.
Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination uses a process called reverse osmosis (RO) to produce drinking water from seawater. RO has been successfully used in nearly 200 water and wastewater treatment plants throughout Florida and produces some of the highest quality drinking water in the world.
Tampa Electric’s Big Bend Power Station already withdraws and discharges up to 1.4 billion gallons a day of seawater from Tampa Bay, using it as cooling water for the power plant. The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination plant “catches” approximately 44 million gallons (mgd) of that warm seawater a day, separates it into drinking water and concentrated seawater.
The unused concentrated seawater is returned to TECO's cooling water where it is diluted with up to 1.4 billion gallons of water before it is discharged to the bay.
Desalination Process
There are basically three main treatment elements in the desalination process: pretreatment, reverse osmosis, and post-treatment.
Pretreatment
Pretreatment must be rigorous to remove sediment, organic matter and other microscopic particles to ensure efficient reverse osmosis operations.
Seawater entering the plant is first treated with chemicals to allow eventual settling of particles. It then goes through traveling screens that filter out shells and other larger debris. The screened water then goes through settling chambers. Similar to a traditional surface water treatment process, particles in the conditioned water clump together and settle out.
The next step in pretreatment is sand filtration, where smaller particles are filtered from the water. Next, diatomaceous earth filters eliminate microscopic materials before the water passes through cartridge filters, the last barrier before the RO process.
Reverse Osmosis
Reverse osmosis is what distinguishes a desalination plant from a traditional surface water treatment plant. During RO, high pressure forces the pretreated water through semi-permeable membranes, separating saltwater from freshwater and leaving salt and other minerals behind in a salty solution.
The size of each RO membrane pore is about .001 microns, which is about 1/100,000th the diameter of a human hair.
Post-treatment
The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant produces up to 25 million gallons per day of desalinated drinking water. Before that water is delivered to Tampa Bay Water, chemicals are added to stabilize the water. The water is then pumped to the regional facilities site, where the desalinated seawater is blended with treated drinking water from other supply sources before being delivered to Tampa Bay Water’s member governments.
Concentrate Return
At full capacity, the RO process will leave about 19 mgd of twice-as-salty seawater behind which will be returned to Big Bend’s cooling water stream and blended with approximately 1.4 billion gallons of cooling water, which will dilute it 70-to-1. At this point, its salinity will be only 1.0 to 1.5 percent higher, on average, than water from Tampa Bay. Environmental scientists say this slight increase falls within Tampa Bay’s normal, seasonal fluctuations in salinity.
This cooling water mixture then moves through a discharge canal, blending with more seawater, diluting the discharge even further. By the time the discharged water reaches Tampa Bay, its salinity is nearly the same as the bay’s. And, the large volume of water that naturally flows in and out of Tampa Bay near Big Bend will dilute it even further, preventing any long-term build-up of salinity in the bay.
Monitoring during the plant’s first year of operations showed no measurable changes in salinity, even when the plant was operating at maximum capacity.
There are many advantages to locating Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination beside the Big Bend power plant in addition to large volumes of cooling water. Tampa Bay’s relatively low salinity and the warm temperature of the power plant’s cooling water help optimize the RO process, keeping costs down. Tampa Bay’s frequent flushing also helps prevent the build-up of salinity.For more information: http://www.water-technology.net/projects/tampa/
Sea
Water Desalination, Part Three:
NDS - Nisan Desalination
Services International
Desalination Blog: http://simon-nisan.com/ Dr. Simon Nisan on Nuclear Desalination. Dr. Simon NISAN is the Chargé d’Affaire, Nuclear Desalination and Chief Engineer at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) CEA English
Nisan Desalination Services Int.
Expertise and innovative R&D for the production of low cost electricity and
water
NDS is a group of world’s well known desalination experts, providing integrated
services for the deployment of desalination systems at the lowest costs.
Why NDS ?
In almost all countries, wishing to deploy integrated desalination systems, the
decision makers need to access immediately some basic facts and figures
regarding main characteristics of the proposed systems, cost estimates,
environmental impacts, etc.
By definition, since there are no on-going programs, the decisions have to be
delayed until collaboration agreements have been signed with suppliers,
engineers have been trained and numerous political discussions have taken place.
Obviously this not only takes a lot of time but also involves considerable
expenditure.
NDS is created to eliminate this very frequent problem. NDS is a startup whose
main objective is to provide all essential services to organizations or
countries, wishing to study or deploy integrated desalination systems.
Scope of Activities
A very unusual feature of NDS will be to train engineers / scientists in their
own laboratories to realize the specific studies or tasks required. This would
not only save considerable amount of time and money in negotiations and
political haggling but it would also create the skilled manpower in the client
countries with minimal costs, since travel and other expenses would disappear.
As the name indicates, NDS would be able to provide :
• Complete feasibility studies of integrated nuclear desalination systems for a
given site
• Training of young engineers / scientists in their country of origin
• Comparative economic evaluations of nuclear and fossil energy based integrated
desalination systems
• Planning and requirements for the implementation of nuclear energy programs
• development of computer codes for the economic evaluation of nuclear and
fossil energy based systems
• Development of specific computer codes and simulators concerning desalination
systems, etc.
• Safety studies of proposed nuclear desalination systems
• Liaison services between suppliers and clients
• Preparation of reports in English or French or Arabic or in any combination
thereof
Experience from some international (or bi-lateral) projects and studies
• Site specific feasibility studies for Tunisia; the TUNDESAL project (technical
coordination of a mixed team of enginerres from CEA, STEG (Tunisian utility),
SONEDE (Tunisian water company). The final report led STEG to opt for the
nuclear option.
• The EURODESAL generic study: included industrial companies such as ANSALDO
(Italy); AREVA NP(France); CANDESAL(canada); EMPRESSARIOS AGRUPADOS (Spain);
IRRADIARE (Portugal) and R&D organisations: University of ROME and CEA (France).
• Coordination and research for the Indo-french collaboration agreement in the
field of nuclear desalination.
• Elaboration of the technical programme for the LIBNDP1 project (French-Libyan
Collaboration programme) aimed at using the Tajoura reactor as a nuclear
desalination demonstration plant.
• Contributions to several IAEA TECDOCS; preparation of TECDOCS 1524 (Status of
Nuclear Desalination in IAEA Member States) and 1561 (Economics of Nuclear
Desalination: New Developments and Case Studies).
Sea
Water Desalination, Part Four:
Water Shortages, Recycling, and Sterilization
Desalination Blog: http://simon-nisan.com/ Dr. Simon Nisan on Nuclear Desalination. Dr. Simon NISAN is the Chargé d’Affaire, Nuclear Desalination and Chief Engineer at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) CEA English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination http://www.water-technology.net/
Massachusetts Desalination Plant Poised To Open
Soon.
The Herald News (MA) (10/6, Pateakos) reports, "The final leg of the
region's first public desalination facility will soon begin, as MassHighway has
granted approval for the Swansea Water District to install two water pipes under
Interstate 195." According to Water District Superintendent Robert Marquis, "the
boreholes, which will be drilled underneath the highway to allow for a 16- and
20-inch water pipe to be installed, will have no effect on traffic," as they
"will be dug far enough under the ground to eliminate the need for any lane
closures." According to the article, "There will be a pre-bid conference on Oct.
13 for the boring work, which is estimated to cost around $885,000. Bids must be
received by Oct. 22."
Work Begins On Controversial Australian Desalination Plant.
ninemsn (10/6) reports, "Building has started on Victoria's controversial
desalination plant which will provide up to 150 billion litres of water each
year to Melbourne from the end of 2011." AquaSure, "the consortium constructing
the $3.5 billion plant," includes Suez Environnement, Degremont, Thiess and
Macquarie Capital Group." The contract calls for "construction and operation of
the desalination plant, an 84km transfer pipeline, plus the construction of
underground power and sourcing renewable energy."
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (10/6) reports, "AquaSure
consortium...has promised to build a windfarm...to offset the plant's energy
needs." But despite that "the project has drawn strong opposition from
environment groups and the local council. A small group of protestors were on
hand to heckle" Victoria Water Minister Tim Holding, "saying the plant is bad
for the environment and the local community." But the minister said that such
projects "are necessary. 'We've got to be honest with people, you can't respond
to 13 years of the longest and driest drought that we've ever had, you can't
prepare our community for climate change, without investing in projects to
augment our water supplies,' he said."
"Water-Rich" North-Central Florida Urges Growing
Cities To Pursue Desalinization.
Politicians in Florida "representing the water-rich north-central region
want the water to stay right where it is," while "politicians representing the
growing cities want the water to go where it's needed," the Lakeland (FL) Ledger
(10/3, A10) reported. "It was no surprise to receive a press release this week
from Alachua County's State Sen. Steve Oelrich urging the St. Johns Water
Management District not to withdraw water from the St. Johns and Ocklawaha
rivers for drinking purposes. If cities like Jacksonville need more water,
Oelrich said, they should invest in desalination plant." This, said Oelrich,
"sets a dangerous precedent for other areas with water shortages." But according
to the Ledger, "Sen. Oelrich is naive if he really believes it's possible to
keep the Rodman intact without having it eventually tapped as a drinking water
source. It is too big and too convenient a target of opportunity for powerful
urban politicians to ignore for long."
Jordan To Proceed Alone With Dead Sea Pipeline.
AFP (9/27) reported, "Jordan has decided to go it alone and build a
two-billion-dollar pipeline from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea without help from
proposed partners Israel and the Palestinian Authority, an official told AFP."
Fayez Batayneh, who represent Jordan "in the mega-project to provide drinking
water and begin refilling the Dead Sea, which is on course to dry out by 2050,"
said, "Jordan is thirsty and cannot wait any longer. ... Israel and the
Palestinians have raised no objection to Jordan starting on the first phase by
itself." Under the plan, the pipeline would "draw off 310 million cubic metres
(10.5 billion cubic feet) of water each year, of which 240 million will be fed
into the desalination plant at the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba, enabling an
annual production of 120 million cubic metres of drinking water."
Desalination Touted As "Best Alternative," Most Cost Efficient.
The Daytona Beach (FL) News-Journal (9/25, Fernandez) reports, "Prepare to
be desalinated -- eventually. And it's a good thing. Those were among the
messages delivered by a panel of experts during a public meeting Wednesday night
in Marineland (FL) to discuss a proposed water desalination plant to supply the
region's taps." Jerry Salsano of Taurant Consulting said that, according to
"some of the partners involved" in the Coquina Coast Seawater Desalination
Project, "a desalination plant is the best alternative for the lowest possible
cost." The partners "are looking at building a desalination plant on land or on
a ship by 2017." Menawhile, "no site has been selected for the plant, which
would need about 50 acres and be linked to 190 miles of transmission lines." In
order "to produce 25 million gallons of drinking water daily," the facility
"would have to draw about 63 million gallons of seawater every day."
Central Florida Desalination Project Discussed.
The Orlando Sentinel (9/23, Lelis) reports that in Central Florida "a
multimillion-dollar project that could send treated seawater through miles-long
pipelines to faucets in DeLand, Mount Dora or Leesburg" was discussed at a
public meeting last night. It is estimated that the Coquina Coast seawater
desalination project "could deliver desalted water to a host of cities and
county utilities looking for new sources of potable water." The three cities
"are interested in whether seawater is a viable option, but none of the
governments has committed to building what could be a $460 million to $1 billion
project capable of producing 50 million to 80 million gallons of water a day."
In the meantime, "the Coquina Coast group is reviewing options -- primarily a
land-based plant or a vessel that would treat the water at sea and pipe it into
a distribution center."
Lawsuit Aims To Stop California Desalination
Project.
The AP (9/23) reports, "Opponents of a plan to turn millions of gallons of
salt water from San Francisco Bay into drinking water for residents of Marin
County have sued to stop the project." The lawsuit claims that "the desalination
project would increase energy consumption, pollute the bay and fuel population
growth." The Marin Municipal Water District board "last month approved a
desalination facility that could convert 5 million gallons of bay water into
drinking water each day." While "officials say the county needs a new source of
water that is drought-proof," opponents say "the county should focus on
conservation."
Activists To Sue Over California Desalination
Project Changes.
The San Diego Union-Tribune (9/17, Burge) reports, "Environmental groups
haven't given up their effort to derail the proposed ocean-water desalination
plant in Carlsbad (CA)," and are "telling the City Council, after it approved
project changes Tuesday night, that they'll sue." The changes would consolidate
"some of the plant's operations" and include "six miles of pipe that will carry
the cleansed water inland." The Union-Tribune notes that the council approved
the changes "as an addendum to the environmental impact report it OK'd in 2006,
without reopening the time-consuming environmental review process," as "the
desalination plant's developer, Poseidon Resources," had to "meet all conditions
by Nov. 14" in order "to obtain a permit from the California Coastal
Commission." But an attorney for the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation and
Coastkeeper "told the council it should have reopened the environmental process
to allow for public review."
NATO Awards Grant For Two Middle East
Desalination Projects.
Israel 21c (9/15, Kloosterman) reports, "A new Israeli technology for
desalination is the centerpiece of a NATO grant that promotes collaboration
between Israel and Jordan and could save water and energy across the globe." The
grant will cover the development of "two inland water desalination plants -- one
in Israel and one in Jordan," and will get "two Middle East universities
collaborating." Under "the terms of the project, three universities -- Ben
Gurion University in Beersheba, the Hashemite University of Jordan and the
University of Colorado in the United States -- are to implement a new Israeli
reverse osmosis desalination technology at two pilot sites." The technique was
"developed originally at Ben Gurion University," and "a new six-person company
called Rotec is commercializing" it. The role of "the universities, as
partners," is to "implement the new reverse osmosis Rotec technology" at the
water plants.
California Water Crisis A National Priority,
Federal Agency Says.
The AP (8/13) reports, "California's ongoing water crisis is a major
national priority, akin to restoring the Chesapeake Bay or Florida's
Everglades," Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said Wednesday. Hayes also
said that "Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will hold a public meeting in
Washington next month to discuss plans to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta, the freshwater estuary that supplies drinking water to two-thirds of
Californians and is one of the most vital wildlife habitats on the West Coast."
While about 50 "mayors are calling for President Barack Obama to visit the area
himself, saying three years of drought coupled with court-ordered protections
for threatened fish species have sapped critical irrigation supplies,"
California "and federal agencies are evaluating several conservation strategies
for the estuary, including a controversial proposal that could cost up to $17
billion to build a canal to move water around the ecosystem."
Japanese Steelmaker To Study Australia Water
Supply Project.
Bloomberg News (7/23, Suga) reported, "JFE Holdings Inc., Japan's second-largest
steelmaker, said its engineering unit will start a study this year on a water
supply project in Queensland, Australia." JFE Engineering Corp., said that it
"plans to operate a test water treatment system at a plant in the state's
southeast for three years before beginning commercial operations in the year
starting April 2014." The project aims to "ease supply shortages in Queensland's
southeast as the population is forecast to increase by 50 percent to 4.2 million
by 2030."
Electric Sewage-Treatment Technology Said To Be
Eco-Friendlier Than Biological Processes.
British Columbia's Goldstream News Gazette (7/24) reports that Boydel Wastewater
Technologies Inc.' uses "an electricity based process called electrocoagulation
(EC) to treat sewage instead of biological processes." Ledcor, the company which
is testing Boydel's technology, said that "the process can treat to secondary
levels, as required by the province, as well as remove pesticides, heavy metals
and pharmaceuticals from the waste stream. It will also be able to accommodate
the treatment of sewage and stormwater in one facility." Ledcor also said that
"because the system uses electricity over biological processes to break down the
sewage, far less greenhouse gas is emitted."
Study Suggests California Alter Its Water
Strategy.
The AP (7/23) reports, "By investing in water-saving technology,
California's drought-burdened farmers could save enough water annually to fill
four times over a reservoir," which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supports
building," according to a study by the Pacific Institute, which "urges
regulatory agencies and lawmakers to focus on farm investments rather than large
infrastructure projects." Farm investments "could ensure more reliable water
supplies as a warming planet increases the length and frequency of droughts, the
report suggested." The study noted that "water-intensive flood irrigation has
certainly declined since 2001...but the method still is widely used in some
areas," but that a great number of farmers "with historic water rights have no
incentive to conserve," since "they get their full allocation of canal water
every year no matter the weather conditions, while others get none." The report
recommended "water contracts should be renegotiated to reflect the new reality
of a dwindling supply."
Portable Desal, Filtration System Developed.
The Chemical Engineer (UK) (7/14, Duckett) reported, "Chemical engineers at
UCLA's school of engineering and applied science...have helped develop a new
mini-mobile-modular desalination and filtration system (M3)" and "has
successfully tested the unit in California with a view to helping solve the
state's water shortage problems." The system marks "quite a change from the
costly and often time-consuming practice of building individual pilot plants to
evaluate and demonstrate the feasibility of desalination for each source of
water." The system "was developed by staff and students from the chemical,
electrical and civil engineering departments with specific expertise in control
theory and optimization, process design and monitoring, computational fluid
dynamics, thermodynamics, and software development," and in collaboration "with
Victoria University in Australia, Ben Gurion University in Israel, and Tarragona
University in Spain."
The Engineer (UK) (7/14) quoted Yoram Cohen, the lead researcher and a UCLA
professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, who said, "In the first part
of the reverse-osmosis process, 65 per cent of the water that was fed in was
recovered as drinking water." He added, "We can potentially recover up to 95 per
cent using an accelerated chemical demineralization process that was also
developed at UCLA." While the M3 "is compact enough to be transported anywhere
in the back of a van, it can generate 6,000 gallons of drinking water per day
from the sea or 8,000 to 9,000 gallons per day from brackish groundwater."
California To Break Ground On Desalination Plant.
The Wall Street Journal (7/9, A4, Shankman) reports, "Early next year, the
Southern California town of Carlsbad will break ground on a plant that each day
will turn 50 million gallons of seawater into fresh drinking water." According
to the article, "the $320 million project, which would be the largest
desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, was held up in the planning stages
for years. But a protracted drought helped propel the project to its approval in
May -- a sign of how worried local authorities are about water supplies." Under
the plan, "the desalination plant would use water that flows by gravity from the
ocean across a manmade lagoon and into the facility through 10 large pumps. The
plant would then blast it through a filter, extracting fresh water and leaving
behind highly pressurized salty water. The process would provide enough water
for 300,000 people each day."
California May Approve More Lenient Graywater
Code This Summer.
The Los Angeles Times (7/6, Carpenter) GreenSpace blog reported, "California may
adopt a more lenient gray water code as early as August." Under the proposed
regulation, "a clothes washer or other single-fixture, residential gray water
system, such as a shower, could be installed or altered without a construction
permit. That's a complete reversal of the present state requirement that
homeowners installing systems to recycle the waste water from their sinks,
showers, bathtubs and laundry machines conform to Appendix G of the California
plumbing code, which requires that gray water systems not only be permitted by
the appropriate administrative authority but installed underground with
extensive filtering apparatus."
Foreign Countries, California Debating
Desalination Plants' Viability.
The Wall Street Journal (6/4, Johnson) Environmental Capital noted that "the
debates over what to do about water and electricity have a lot in common. There
are ardent supply-siders who say we need to produce more of the stuff, and there
are equally devoted demand-side types who stress conservation and efficiency."
Currently "in Spain, the Middle East, and Australia, thirsty governments are
building big desalination plants to turn salty seawater into drinking water. One
big downside is that the process is expensive-and uses a lot of energy." Such a
"debate is coming to a head in California, too, which is facing its own water
crisis. Plans are afoot to build as many as 20 desalination plans across the
state. At issue is how to meet an expected increase in water use even as
traditional water sources, from rivers to reservoirs, are getting drier."
American Water Wins Texas Desalination Contract.
The Philadelphia Inquirer (5/14) reported, American Water said Thursday
"that its subsidiary had won a $500,000 contract to run a desalination pilot
plant in Laredo, Texas." Under the agreement, the Applied Water Management "will
be using a new desalination technology, designed to reduce capital and operating
costs. Applied Water is expected to begin engineering work this month, and to
begin running the facility by the end of this year."
The Philadelphia Business Journal (5/15, Key) adds that the plant is planned "to
provide additional fresh water for the 215,000 residents of Laredo, which is
located in a semi-arid area on the Texas-Mexico border. Laredo is reaching the
limit on the amount of water it can draw from the Rio Grande River and its
ground water has been affected by salt intrusion."
San Diego Approves Large Desalination Plant.
The AP (5/14) reports, "San Diego's water board gave final approval
Wednesday for construction of the largest water desalination plant in the
Western hemisphere." Under the plans, "the $320 million project proposed by
Poseidon Resources could come online by 2012 in Carlsbad and produce 50 million
gallons of drinking water a day, or 10 percent of the supply for San Diego
County." The AP notes, "The pressure to find new sources of clean water has been
increasing with drought conditions and as traditional sources across California
are becoming more unreliable."
However, according to the Los Angeles Times (5/13, Perry) L.A. Now blog,
"environmentalist activists, who believe the project would harm the coastal
environment, plan to appeal to the State Water Quality Control Board and to
continue at least three lawsuits aimed at blocking the project."
In addition, the North County (CA) Times (5/14, Fikes) notes, Poseidon Resources
"still needs to raise the money" for the project. If built, "the plant could
serve as a template for other desalination plants on the California coast, where
densely populated urban areas are increasingly straining their water supplies."
South Africa Warned Of Water Price Increase.
Creamer Media's Engineering News (5/22, Parker) reports, "Water Institute of
South Africa (Wisa) president Dr Heidi Snyman has warned that the price of
water" to South African consumers may "increase, owing to the increasingly
complex methods sometimes needed to draw clean water from new sources." Snyman
"said that the continued pollution and mismanagement of existing resources meant
that the water industry relied heavily on recycling wastewater and processes
such as desalination to be able to provide the growing population with clean
water." The article noted, "Water price hikes would affect the entire economy,
as water is a major input into most industries' production processes." Snyman
aid, "Our strategic drives will focus on making a real difference in the water
sector by increasing membership benefits, promoting volunteerism, ensuring an
African and global presence and financial sustainability."
In California, Desalination of Seawater as a Test Case By FELICITY BARRINGER Published: May 14, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — The vast $320 million desalination plant approved this week by San Diego’s regional water authorities is likely to serve as a test case for whether such a large project can meet its goals while safeguarding its Pacific environment.
The plant, to be built near Carlsbad, north of San Diego, will be the first large-scale desalination operation on the West Coast and the largest in the hemisphere. “If they build it well and it operates well and the price is right, we will see more,” said Peter Gleick, the cofounder and president of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, Calif.
“I think there’s going to be some hesitancy to really expand desalination until this plant is up and running,” he added. “There’s going to be hesitancy on the part of everyone — regulators, water agencies and municipalities.”
Other ambitious desalination projects are being considered along the California coast, from Marin County just north of San Francisco to Santa Cruz, Monterey, Long Beach and Huntington Beach. Cities, water companies and environmentalists are likely to scrutinize how the plant near Carlsbad performs financially and technically and weigh its environmental impact.
Environmentalists have battled the project in lawsuits, raising concerns about the amount of fish that will be killed by the pumping process and about potential change to the aquatic ecosystem when leftover brine is returned to the sea. So far they have not won any victories.
Poseidon Resources pursued the project for over six years before gaining final approval on Wednesday from the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, the last of four agencies whose assent was needed.
The plant will filter 100 million gallons of seawater daily, taking salt out by filtering it through fine membranes, a process called reverse osmosis. If construction proceeds as scheduled, it will produce 50 million gallons of drinking water by 2011.
The plant would provide water to nine municipal water agencies in northern San Diego County, filling 10 percent of the county’s drinking water needs. Its capacity makes it one of the biggest outside the Middle East.
The California Coastal Commission, one of the agencies that approved the project, raised questions last month about whether Poseidon’s plan to mitigate the damage to aquatic life was sufficient. Poseidon plans to create 55 acres of new coastal wetlands to mitigate the loss of fish. The Coastal Commission suggested that a minimum of 66 acres was required, but the regional water board signed off on the original plan.
Marco A. Gonzalez, a lawyer for the Surfrider Foundation and the Planning and Conservation League, said he would appeal the regional board’s decision to the state board.
Barcelona's New Desalination Plant To Provide 44
Million Gallons Of Water Per Day.
BBC News (7/22) reports, "A desalination plant has opened near Barcelona - said
to be the biggest of its type in Europe - to ease chronic water shortages."
Officials say that the plant, which "went into operation" early this week, "will
provide 24% of the water consumed in the Barcelona area," or about "200m litres
(44m gallons) of drinking water daily for the city's 4.5 million people."
Meanwhile, two other "desalination plants are being built in the Catalonia
region."
Florida Local Governments Looking Into
Desalination.
The DeLand-Deltona Beacon (FL) (5/12, Everson) reports, "Uncertain about the
area's future water needs, Volusia County has cautiously expressed interest in a
possible desalination plant in Flagler County to treat ocean water for use in
homes and businesses." So far, "several localities are taking part in the
preliminary discussions about the Coquina Coast Desalination Project," and "the
exact price tag of Coquina Coast is not yet known, but Volusia County Utilities
Director Gloria Marwick said she has heard estimates as high as $1 billion." In
addition, "the refined water from Coquina Coast will be quite expensive -
perhaps too pricey - for both the utilities buying it and the customers paying
for it." It is expected that future water needs and technological improvements
will narrow the gap.
Tampa Considers Treating Wastewater For Drinking
Supplies.
The St. Petersburg (FL) Times (5/8, Zink) reports that Tampa City Council
member Charlie Miranda "revived a decades-old proposal to send treated
wastewater back into the public drinking water supply," saying that "this is the
only way for the city...to become self-sufficient and not have to spend more
money buying water." Tampa "currently dumps 55 million gallons of treated
wastewater into Tampa Bay each day. The water is purified to the point that it
can be used on lawns, but the city's reclaimed water system reaches only about
8,000 property owners." While, according to Miranda, "it will never be
financially feasible to expand the system enough to maximize the use of the
water," it can "make financial sense to build a wastewater treatment plant to
further purify the water. The water could be put back into the ground, where it
would be naturally filtered before reaching the Hillsborough River and treated
again before heading to customer's taps."
San Diego Poll Shows Increased Support For
Recycled Sewage.
According to the results (pdf) of a public opinion poll released last week
by the San Diego County Water Authority, the Voice of San Diego (4/24, Davis)
reported, "63 percent of respondents" support "the use of recycled sewage to
boost drinking water supplies. That's up from 28 percent in 2005." However,
"more of the public (17.9 percent) sees seawater desalination as the most
critical thing the authority could do to secure water supplies than those who
believe the answer is using recycled water (3.7 percent)." In regards to saving
water, "more residents said they'd save water by cutting indoors," such as
taking shorter showers, than outdoor options such as "cutting irrigation."
Florida Utility Considers Desalination Project.
The Florida Times-Union (4/22, Hunt) reported, "Northeast Florida could be
tapping the Atlantic Ocean for drinking water within the next two decades,"
according to Kirby Green, executive director of the St. Johns River Water
Management District. The article noted that desalination is "one of the more
sensitive areas for JEA (Jacksonville Electric Authority) customers," who "are
facing rate hikes of about 45 percent - roughly 10 percent annually over the
next four years." Also, "building a desalination plant would make for a hefty
capital investment at a time the utility's water and sewer debt - $2.4 billion -
is projected to go into default if revenues don't increase."
Florida Utility Considers Desalination.
The Florida Times-Union (4/22, Hunt) reports on the possibility of using
desalination to make use of Atlantic Ocean water in Northeast Florida. Kirby
Green, executive director of the St. Johns River Water Management District,
said, "It's not a question of 'will it happen?'" adding, "it can take seven to
12 years to get a desalination plant going." JEA CEO Jim Dickenson said that
"the utility should still ask customers to cut back on water use when they can,"
in order to "protect groundwater and avoid the need to build desalination
equipment." JEA customers "are facing rate hikes of about 45 percent -- roughly
10 percent annually over the next four years," while the utility "has released
one estimate suggesting that preparing seawater for household use could carry 12
times the cost of conventional groundwater." That estimate is presented as
questionable, but JEA spokeswoman Gerri Boyce said that the figure "includes
one-time plant construction and engineering estimates on a plant capable of
producing 15 million gallons daily."
Interior Secretary Calls For Modernization Of
California Water System.
The AP (4/16) reports, "Interior Secretary Ken Salazar urged California on
Wednesday to modernize its antiquated water system," and pledged "$260 million
in federal stimulus money to help finance projects aimed at relieving the
state's water woes." The Interior Secretary noted "California's massive system
of reservoirs, pumps and canals, built a half century ago, was designed for a
population half the size of the state's 37.7 million." The Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta, "which provides water to nearly two-thirds of all Californians,
has become a highly troubled resource. Three years of below-average
precipitation have wreaked havoc on its habitat and water supply. Urban and
agricultural pollution are problems."
According to the Los Angeles Times (4/16, Chong, Boxall), $40 million of the
money will go "for groundwater pumping and other projects to ease effects of the
drought. Salazar also announced a "$29.4-million budget for improving the
national and international earthquake monitoring network," saying, "With nearly
75 million Americans living within earthquake-prone areas, this investment is
long overdue." An official "who coordinates the Advanced National Seismic System
for the U.S. Geological Survey," said that roughly "two-thirds of the money will
go toward modernizing seismic networks across the United States." The New York
Times (4/16, A19, Barringer, McKinley) also reports the story.
California Area Studying Desalination
Sustainability.
The Santa Cruz (CA) Sentinel (4/13, Bookwalter) reported on a "yearlong pilot
project commissioned by the Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek water districts to learn
if desalination is an option for the water-starved agencies." At the end of the
project, later this week, "water will stop flowing through various tubes and
membranes at the Long Marine Lab desalination plant," and also "tanks will be
taken apart, pipes dismantled and the building the plant stands in will be torn
down." While final conclusions "are still weeks away, Santa Cruz water chief
Bill Kocher deemed the experiment a resounding success," and said "the quality
of desalinated water provided by the small treatment plant justifies moving
toward a larger, permanent plant that, at its peak, could churn out 2.5 million
gallons of fresh water per day."
Florida Water Utility Makes Last Withdrawal From
Near-Empty Reservoir.
The St. Petersburg (FL) Times (3/14, Pittman) reported that as of last week,
"Tampa Bay Water has virtually drained its 15 billion-gallon reservoir. From now
until the summer rainy season, it must rely on its two remaining sources of
water: its sometimes troubled desalination plant and the dwindling supply in the
underground aquifer." According to the article, "the regional utility expects to
again ask the Southwest Florida Water Management District to impose the toughest
watering restrictions in history on Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough county
residents." The Times noted, "The reservoir, which covers about 1,100 acres in
rural Fort Lonesome, is normally
filled with water from rainfall, the Hillsborough and Alafia rivers and the
Tampa Bypass Canal. But an ongoing drought, which started three years ago, has
left all those sources depleted."
Taxpayers Association Opposes Desalination
Project.
The Marin (CA) Independent Journal (3/5, Crane) reported, "Marin United
Taxpayers Association (MUTA) steadfastly opposes building a large permanent
desalination plant near the Central Marin Sanitary Agency plant in San Rafael."
The MUTA argued that "going high-tech environmental for fresh water in Marin
when other options are available during a period of wartime and downward
spiraling economy is irresponsible." The association "believes that using less
water -- is the cheapest, fastest and most ecologically friendly way to stem
Marin Municipal Water District's identified water shortfall of 6,700 acre-feet
per year by 2025."
End Of Chapter Six - Sea Water Desalination, Water Shortages, Recycling, Sterilization