Desalination gets a serious look [Nevada governor says he wants Las Vegas to use desalination]

Las Vegas Sun ^ | Mar 21, 2008 | Phoebe Sweet

[sergeantdave]

Lots of water in the upper Midwest. Bring your snowsuit, snow shovel and carrots for the snowman’s nose. No ice needed for your daily bottle of bourbon on the rocks.

[HangThemHigh]

"Nevada could get ocean water right to their door — by having a canal from the Gulf of California to Death Valley. Instead of that valley being below sea level, it would be an inland sea — kept filled by inflowing seawater."

The water will get saltier and saltier as it evaporates and they take out fresh water. They would need a return flow to keep the salt constant.

[theBuckwheat]

Repeat after me: As long as the oceans are full, there is NO such thing as a shortage of water, there is ONLY a shortage of the will to spend the money necessary to spend the money necessary to deliver water of sufficient quality and quantity.

[Ben Ficklin]

If you were to pump water from St Louis to Las Vegas, wouldn't it have to be pumped up over the continental divide?

New Mexico has completed a pipeline from the Colorado to the Chama/Rio Grande that utilizes pumps to a higher elevation and a pipeline dug thru the divide, but I don't know what the initial elevation of the water is or what elevation of the thru-mountain pipeline is.

[JimRed]

I could see this happening in Mexico...and pumping the water north...

And have Mexico in a position to threaten to stop water supplies to part of the U.S.? Not a good plan.

[Ben Ficklin]

They wouldn't pump the water from Mexico to Nevada. They would do it as they have proposed in CA.

Nevada would build a de-sal plant in/for Mexico's use and Mexico would relinquish their rights to an equivalent amount of Colorado River water to Nevada.

[joshhiggins]

As long as the oceans are full, there is NO such thing as a shortage of water

I can hear the environmentalists predicting that Nevada will turn the oceans into salty "dead seas", use up all the water, and ultimately turn the whole earth into a desert. They made similar claims when a desalinization plant was proposed in Australia.

[GladesGuru]

So, “Hot-N-Salty” water is preferable to merely salty water?

;-)

[Clive]

The return flow from the nuke would dilute the salinity of the reverse osmosis plant effluent to levels that are within acceptable limits albeit slightly higher than the original sea water while the osmosis plant effluent will serve to reduce the temperature of the power plant return flow.

[Monkey Face]

Nevada has so much underground water, desalinization should not even be an issue. And Gov. Gibbons should know it.

Nye county alone has enough water to take care of the Four Corners states for 500 years.

[theBuckwheat]

>>
I can hear the environmentalists predicting that Nevada will turn the oceans into salty “dead seas”, use up all the water, and ultimately turn the whole earth into a desert. They made similar claims when a desalinization plant was proposed in Australia.
<<

Yet more proof that liberalism is a mental disorder. Little thought is given to where water goes and how the hydrology cycle works.

As long as the user of the RO product does not sequester the water, it will eventually return to the ocean, either by runoff or through evaporation. It is bad enough that anyone doesn’t care to understand this. It seems that some people actually prefer the lies when they could learn from the truth.

[timer]

DSRO means Deep Sea Reverse Osmosis. At 1800 feet below the surface you get the natural 900 psi to run an RO film-unit, 1 gal/hr/2 sf with spiral wound film-tech RO films. Then a submersible pump and lines to shore. This would be ideal if you had a 1800 deep trench just off shore(like Monteray CA). The only power required is for the submersible pump, plus staging pumps from seafloor unit to shore. But no brine disposal problems, no on-shore pressurization units, only occaional back flushing to kick back drifting debris in the water. There would be a barge on the surface to raise/lower the unit for servicing, with a JASON underwater unit to disconnect/reconnect lines.

This concept is explained in an article in infinite-energy magazine.com about 6 years ago, the “water” issue, by Andrews and Bullock.

[grundle]

"Repeat after me: As long as the oceans are full, there is NO such thing as a shortage of water, there is ONLY a shortage of the will to spend the money necessary to spend the money necessary to deliver water of sufficient quality and quantity."

I agree with you. People who say there's not enough water don't make any sense.

[Solitar]

"Nevada could get ocean water right to their door — by having a canal from the Gulf of California to Death Valley. Instead of that valley being below sea level, it would be an inland sea — kept filled by inflowing seawater."

---------- The water will get saltier and saltier as it evaporates and they take out fresh water. They would need a return flow to keep the salt constant.

But that would take centuries -- and meanwhile, the inflow would generate lots of electricity -- and it would make Las Vegas a seaport city. Before it gets too salty the Snake River could be diverted from Twin Falls (elev 3745 ft) into Nevada -- there's more electricity.

[HangThemHigh]

How long it took the lake to get salty would depend on the inflow rate & size of the lake.

Besides, the greens would never let you flood Death Valley, even if it would save thousands of human lives - you might kill some horned toads or such.

[buffyt]

” Opponents complain the plant will be an eyesore”

As much an eyesore as thousands of people with NO water????????????????????????????

[buffyt]

THAT IS SO TRUE! Isn’t earth 75% water surface?

[AFreeBird]

Nevada could get ocean water right to their door — by having a canal from the Gulf of California to Death Valley. Instead of that valley being below sea level, it would be an inland sea — kept filled by inflowing seawater.

Interesting idea. But I'm sure there's some rare little Death Valley desert dweller critter, that would get eradicated in such a plan, and that will get the enviro's panties in a wad.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Nye county alone has enough water to take care of the Four Corners states for 500 years.

Shhhh! We're trying to stage a disaster over here! Federal dollars are at stake! ;)

[Mad Dawgg]

"No mention of cogeneration? There are beautiful systems in place throughout the world where nuclear power generation and desalination are combined into one efficient, continuous process."

I see but you have missed the obvious "flaw" in such a plan. Notice the unforgivable "lack of need" for carbon credits in such.

So back to the drawing board with your horrendously flawed system, you environmental heretic you!