It's working just fine in Tampa, FL, and providing 25 million gallons of fresh water a day.
Posted on 04/25/2015 7:34:42 AM PDT by Mean Daddy
As surely as the hot, dry Santa Ana winds bring blue skies to the coast and wildfires to the hills, severe California droughts bring calls to build desalination plants up and down the seashore.
All that ocean water, begging to be converted to fresh and pumped into our pipelines, would solve our water supply problems instantly and permanently, boosters say. In the coming months, the drumbeat will only get louder.
That's not only because the current drought is the longest and most severe in memory, but because a $1-billion desalination project scheduled to start operating in Carlsbad this fall will be attracting lots of attention. The plant, the largest of its kind in the U.S., is designed to provide San Diego County with about 50 million desalinated gallons a day, about 7% of its water needs.
"A lot of people are watching what's going to happen in Carlsbad," says Peter MacLaggan, the executive overseeing the project for its developer, privately held Poseidon Water. "They're going to base their future decisions on the success of this project."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I’ve never heard any desalination proponent claim that desal would “instantly” solve the water shortage.
I agree. They’re not built to fill your pool, but people will want to equate it it as such.
The cost of water from same doesn’t look too bad, ~ 3x other sources. As for ecological impact ...... consider LA itself.
the water won’t be available for 10 years so it’s obviously better not to do it.....
That is not true. Ionics operated the plant and sold water to the City for a period of time so as to recoup their investment. This was a contractually agreed to requirement.
(I worked with Ionics at the time and my employer (Ingersol Rand) sold much of the equipment that was used for the plant.)
Lefties: and Stop trying to remove the existing Klamath River Dams that produce , green, electrical energy and water to farmers.
Stop flushing fresh water to allegedly save a few smelt fish.
Stop trying to steal so much of your neighbors’ water.
This is what it comes down to. The rich snots don't want lose their million dollar views of the Pacific.
I say put the plant right in the heart of the Malibu Colony. Those folks are among the most obnoxious people on the face of the planet.
And as far as the California Coastal Commission is concerned -- it is time to end it's reign of terror. Close it.
Exactly. You've learned to think like an enlightened Democrat ;-)
Will all you poor, ugly, untalented, resource-snatching people just get the hell out of California!
Your Democratic Party gods demand it!
Bob, that’s what’s called a straw man argument. Politicians and journalists have raised it to an art form.
Desalination plants will never work in California.
It’s too far from the ocean...
It’s ok to die of thirst as long as my beachfront property or view of the Pacific Ocean isn’t impacted.
This is the LA Times reasoning? They provide no answers, as usual. No realistic solutions, as usual.
But I Would be willing to bet the same author approves of a 100 billion dollar train to nowhere.
They can only be powered by windmills, right?
(but not windmills which block the view of the beautiful people)
“would solve our water supply problems instantly and permanently”
Utterly typical lib argumentation tactic. Nobody at all is saying that desal plants would any problem instantly. You can ignore the rest of the article.
It's working just fine in Tampa, FL, and providing 25 million gallons of fresh water a day.
Stop heating buildings in SFO with drinking water steam.
A much better idea is to waste billions on a high-speed rail.
And there you have the real reason: the well to do that live on the coastline don't want their views spoiled. And besides, If more water is available it will just attract more people to California.
"California....knows how to party. California...knows how to party! In da city....city of Compton. We keep it rockin! We keep it rockin!" < /Tupac >
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.