Cities look to sea for fresh water

USA TODAY ^ | 11/22/2002 | John Ritter

[Willie Green]

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. -- Water is a precious commodity even here in one of the nation's most affluent counties. Low-flush toilets, low-volume showerheads and drip sprinklers are the norm in a region wholly dependent on winter rains and imported river water.

[Willie Green]

Concern over fresh water supply is becoming increasingly common in our nation due to pressures from drought and population growth. Our coastal states are frequently evaluating the viability of desalination systems to provide their fresh water needs. Desalination is an energy intensive process, so it is quite common for these facilities to be built in close proximity to electric power plants. For this reason, it is also reasonable to consider the use of nuclear desalination as a potential option.

[11th Earl of Mar]

I say we build a Mag-Lev water delivery system to the areas that need fresh water. And while we are at it we can give people free, fast rides to work.

[ZOOKER]

Does anyone remember what happened to CA only last summer?

Guess they should stock up on candles AND drinking water now...

[Pushi]

I lived on the Island of Aruba for eight years. The only fresh water on the island was from desalination--the best water I've seen anywhere. There the cost was about 10 times what water is in the states--my mothly bill was about $500/mo--I had a lawn. But, the old refinery complex with over 800 homes and a 200-bed hospital prior to the 1980's had two water systems--a brackish system and a potable system. The brackish was used in commodes and for watering plants and the potable was used for drinking, cooking, and bathing. The brackish used storm drain runoff and some sea water.

There are a lot of things we can do. We could use the two-water-system approach, we could pipe water from areas which have floods almost every year (if we can pump natural gas and petroleum and petroleum products, we can pump water), we could pipe water from the snow melt above the Great Salt Lake, we could convert from flood irrigation, etc. etc.

[AlaskaErik]

This is just what is needed to counter-balance the rising sea level caused by global warming!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Good article!

I posted this earlier today:

California: Interior Secretary seeks to keep water flowing in Southern California

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[NautiNurse]

Tampa Bay Water says its desalinated water will be the world's cheapest.

That's because they will be dumping the salt into Tampa Bay instead of extending the pipeline into the Gulf of Mexico.

[A. Pole]

''We'll add the equivalent of two Chicagos to Southern California in the next 20 years,'' says Steven Erie, political science professor at the University of California-San Diego.

"Two Chicagos" or six Tijuanas?

[Willie Green]

But, the old refinery complex with over 800 homes and a 200-bed hospital prior to the 1980's had two water systems--a brackish system and a potable system.

I'd be concerned and skeptical about pursuing implementation of any new, secondary "brackish" water systems. (Although I can imagine certain scenarios under which they MIGHT be feasible.) But if the brackish water also contained sea water, I can see where the sea-salt would not only present corrosion concerns for residential plumbing, but it used for landscape watering, I'd think the salt would build up in the soil over time and wind up ruining the land. It could be that specific local conditions render this a non-issue, but I'd be inclined to favor high-quality potable water distribution only. And treat the waste so it may be disposed of harmlessly.

[RightWhale]

The main environmental issue is returning the brine left from osmosis to the sea.

Don't do that. Keep the brine, dry it, mine it for minerals.