# Desalination Plants for Turning Ocean Water Into Drinking Water



## SeaBreeze (Apr 11, 2015)

Do you think these plants will be key in helping those dealing with drought conditions in places like California and Texas?  Is anyone here familiar with this process and know the pros and cons?  To me is seems to be a very good idea, especially if we continue to get drier and warmer in the United States.  What do you think?


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## Laurie (Apr 12, 2015)

They've used the process in Gibraltar for years I think, and most of the military bases I served on in the Middle East had them.

Very expensive, but if you've got your own oil that doesn't really matter.


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## Pappy (Apr 12, 2015)

I know that cruise ships use this method. Taste just fine to me.


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## Debby (Apr 12, 2015)

I was listening to a guy last week who was some sort of expert on the drought in California.  That expert was saying that it is cost prohibitive to even consider the possibility of desalinating enough water for California.  Too many people, too much agriculture........according to him, desalinating is a 'drop in the bucket' compared to what is needed.

And the video talks about supplying water to 300,000 people, well California's population is 38,000,000 plus agricultural needs.  How many plants, how much oil is used to run them, and if they are discharging the salt back into the ocean, what is the effect on natural salt levels in the ocean.  As the water is drawn down, will the replaced salt make the oceans even more inhospitable to ocean wildlife?


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## Don M. (Apr 12, 2015)

COST is the determining factor in assessing the practicality of processing sea water.  This plant, in San Diego, is expected to cost at least a billion dollars, and will supply only about 7% of that regions expected needs.  California would need dozens, perhaps hundreds, of similar plants to supply its needs if this drought continues.  Ultimately, those costs would be paid by the individual homeowners and businesses, in the form of substantially increased water bills.  Then, it appears that these plants would be primarily for the urban areas usage, and do little or nothing for the States agricultural needs.  

This Western drought is a very complex problem, and the solutions will not be easy.  No one can look into the future and see how long these weather patterns will last, but if it continues for much longer, we may see a major migration of people leaving California, and a major reduction in farming in that region.  The implications, for the entire nation, are substantial.


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## Davey Jones (Apr 12, 2015)

I believe there are several desalt plants in Calif. that were shut down several years ago,why? I don't know maybe it cost too much operate those.


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## Jackie22 (Apr 12, 2015)

Don M. said:


> COST is the determining factor in assessing the practicality of processing sea water.  This plant, in San Diego, is expected to cost at least a billion dollars, and will supply only about 7% of that regions expected needs.  California would need dozens, perhaps hundreds, of similar plants to supply its needs if this drought continues.  Ultimately, those costs would be paid by the individual homeowners and businesses, in the form of substantially increased water bills.  Then, it appears that these plants would be primarily for the urban areas usage, and do little or nothing for the States agricultural needs.
> 
> This Western drought is a very complex problem, and the solutions will not be easy.  No one can look into the future and see how long these weather patterns will last, but if it continues for much longer, we may see a major migration of people leaving California, and a major reduction in farming in that region.  The implications, for the entire nation, are substantial.



Yes, you are correct, Don, I don't think California will have any other choice, but to bite the bullet, it just adds to the already high cost of living there.


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## AZ Jim (Apr 12, 2015)

Many won't remember this but since I lived in San Diego at the time, I do.  Back in the day Cuba cut off water to our base in Guantanamo, San Diego had a desalinization plant and it was shipped to Cuba to supply water to the base.


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## SeaBreeze (Jul 23, 2015)

Going solar with it.  http://thinkprogress.org/climate/20...rcial-solar-desalination-plant-in-california/ 

Solar power turns the sun’s energy into electricity. Desalination removes unwanted minerals from saltwater so it can be used for drinking or agriculture.

These two technologies have typically been employed separately in the effort to live more sustainably and limit dependence on finite resources. Now in California, a company has found a way to merge the two with the aim of providing long-term relief to farmers suffering the impacts of the state’s devastating four-year drought. The implications are far-reaching, as agriculture accounts for 80 percent of water use in California and roughly 70 percent of water use globally. In California alone, there is an estimated one million acre-feet of irrigation drainage that could be treated and reused if solar desalination catches on.

“Conserving or recycling even a small share of this water can make a big difference,” Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project and a Freshwater Fellow of the National Geographic Society, told ThinkProgress.

WaterFX, a San Francisco-based water producer for agricultural and commercial users, recently announced that its California subsidiary, HydroRevolution, plans to build the state’s first commercial solar desalination plant. To be located in the agriculture-intensive Central Valley, the plant will ultimately generate up to 5,000 acre-feet, or 1.6 billion gallons, of clean water per year — enough water for 10,000 homes or 2,000 acres of cropland.

 It will be built on 35 acres of land currently used to grow salt-tolerant crops, and will recycle unusable irrigation water from a 7,000-acre drainage area into a new and much-needed source of freshwater for nearby water districts by removing unwanted mineral and salts.


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## AZ Jim (Jul 23, 2015)

Anyone who has boiled water and watched the steam collect on the pot lid, is doing what is basically done in these plants.  COST!  What powers them.....It's expensive.


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## WhatInThe (Jul 23, 2015)

Laurie said:


> They've used the process in Gibraltar for years I think, and most of the military bases I served on in the Middle East had them.
> 
> Very expensive, but if you've got your own oil that doesn't really matter.



That's what I've heard, that middle eastern countries have been using them for years. 

They say necessity is the mother of invention. But desperate need is the motivation to actually use that invention. Just as the necessity to lower energy costs or find alternative sources for these plants will also drive the development of cheaper energy just for these plants. The costs or energy needs seem to be the pumps to push the salt water through extremely small filters designed to catch salt molecules.


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## imp (Jul 23, 2015)

Purifying water using the Sun's energy is quite easy, in principle. Anyone can build a small solar still, using a sheet of plastic, and a simple frame-like box. The plastic is suspended like an open umbrella, domed upwards in it's center, and secured inside the plastic-lined box. A tray of dirty old swill-water, or any non-potable water, sits in the box, the inside volume of the "tent" is heated by the sunlight falling upon the umbrella, impure water evaporates, fills the enclosure with water vapor, which condenses on the underside of the umbrella, trickles downward and collects in the plastic lined bottom. A "spigot" taps the now pure water off to the outside.

A diagram or picture would describe my "thousand words" better. The point is, solar energy can be used; the heat source is free, no oil burned or other fossil fuel consumed. However, on a commercial scale, the capital cost is high. Nonetheless, looking at the video, an enormous capital outlay, far in excess of that which I would perceive necessary for a solar plant, is required for conventional purification means: reverse-osmosis, or ion-exchange.     imp


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## Glinda (Jul 23, 2015)

They are now talking about a huge El Nino this winter which will solve the problem . . . yeah, right.


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