STATEWIDE — California is home to a handful of saltwater desalination plants between Monterey County and Carlsbad. As California’s severe drought continues to persist there are some who say we need to build desalination plants to solve our water shortage problems. Others point out desalination is an expensive process and...
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7 Responses
We need this plant. Stop supporting the “NIMBY’S” We are in a very lomg drought, and we are dragging down the water supplies from the Colorado River, that will be dry if we don’t try to supplement our water needs.
Sorek – (large new desalination plant in Israel) will profitably sell water to the Israeli water authority for 58 U.S. cents per cubic meter (1,000 liters )*. This works out to be $715/acre foot. Needless to say this is rather less than the alternatives mentioned. Perhaps there is some way to get a better contract/technology for California water users. Cheers Chris
325,851g/acre foot / 264.172g/1000 litres * $0.58/1000 litres = $715 / acre foot
* https://www.technologyreview.com/s/534996/megascale-desalination/
There should be no arguments or debating, several desal plants need to be constructed up and down the coast. The southwest is a natural desert, w little water. It is unnatural that millions of us live here, so unnatural solutions must be provided. Thx
Before citing Israel as an example of what we should do, read:
Before citing Israel as an example of what California should do, read this: https://scienceblogs.com/significantfigures/index.php/2015/06/10/the-future-of-desalination-in-california-is-still-in-the-future-california-israel-and-australia/
What is the salt content of the desal water? Why do the rate paying taxpayers have to pay $3240 per acre feet for Poseidon Desal water only to have it pumped back into the ground. Then the ratepayers will have to pay to pump it back out of the ground. $40 monthly water bills for the residents. If I am wrong, then where is the legislation capping the monthly water bills. Remember there is no cap on the price of water for 50 yeas that Poseidon will charge for desal water. This water smells
Who is the “we” that “needs” the water? Anyone who actually attends the OCWD meetings must certainly recognize that OCWD does NOT need the water. In fact, in presentation after presentation, staff has raised the concern regarding what to do with this water. OCWD is a groundwater management agency, not a retailer of water. Even if you ignore the fact that OCWD has overstated demand by 90,000 acre-feet (per the MWDOC UWMP), they far exceed the ability of their members to produce the water with existing infrastructure. The reason the basin is below its optimal storage limit is not because OCWD hasn’t had access to replenishment water but because they didn’t want to raise rates to pay for the water (which is a fraction of the cost of desalinated water). Bottom line is Poseidon needs to find a different “partner” to fleece.
Water sources that have lower cost and less environmental impacts should be considered to meet the increasing water demand. Water conservation and efficiency has been underestimated in long term water demand forecasting. Water conservation measure can have a significant effect on reducing per capita water use rate.