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All that water ...
1.
. Several news articles on seawater desalination reveal that desalination technology is little understood by most journalists, local water managers, politicians and environmental groups. In searching for renewable potable water or supplementing current sources few are aware that there is more than one desalination technology.
When evaluating a desalination project Reverse Osmosis is typically the process considered. Yet, there is a viable and proven alternative in distillation with lower costs.
2. Shame on you Mindy
3. The next plant to be built in California will be the first large scale one on the Pacific Coast and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Properly managing water in California should take many factors into consideration--not just engineered solutions that are dependant on subsidies and cheap energy that no longer exists. Prioritize the options and ocean desal still drops to the bottom. For more information check out Dorothy Green's new book Managing Water- Avoiding Crisis in California and the Pacific Institute's “Desalination with a Grain of Salt- a California Perspective” at www.pacinst.org
4. The promise of desalinating ocean water has been around for a long time in California, but the reality of doing it right is still a ways off. A numbers of myths have evolved, including that the water produced would replace other sources of imported water, that the costs are comparable, and that it is a reliable source of water. Experience so far has proved far differently, from the brackish Yuma Desalter to the challenged Tampa Bay facility in Florida, large scale plants haven't been the answer. We should demand the results of the research and development that Lester Snow referenced before we rush into building without the answers.
5. I think that a huge amount of local Califronia water would become available for the people if food production in California is off-shored to Mexico/Central America..... No discussions of desalinization would even be necessary if we freed up water for people and away from farming. Submitted by: Roman _________ Oh now there is dim bulb on the Xmas tree. Other countries are to be agricultural slaves soo greedy AMercians can continue breeding like flies and having green lawns. Okay gneius tell us what happens if thsoe countries decide to NOT sell the farm produce to the US but sell it to India instead?
6. Continued... If indeed we are going to use reverse osmosis, why not use it to recycle water? Why do we clean water to near drinking water standards only to release it into the ocean where very little of it is ever recovered (water evaporates much better when stored on land than in an ocean). Desalination would then suck up this ocean water, re-treat it and send it on its way. Why not treat the waste stream to a higher quality and… drink it? Orange County is on board. Please see our website for more information www.desalresponsegroup.org
7. It is true that there are other less energy intensive methods for desalinating ocean water. These methods however, are not what is being proposed in projects like Carlsbad. The direct linkage between water and energy is something rarely acknowledged by the general public. Not only is water an effective means of storing energy (think hydro-electric dams), but producing/distributing water, as in the case of RO can be extremely energy consumptive.
8. I think that a huge amount of local Califronia water would become available for the people if food production in California is off-shored to Mexico/Central America. Farm water cost for the same water is about 5% of what we pay in the cities. No discussions of desalinization would even be necessary if we freed up water for people and away from farming.
9. Mr Snow intimates that the cost for ocean desalination is approaching that of other water sources in Southern California & is less than the 1990 cost. However, California Desalination Planning Handbook (to which he refers) advises, "Improved membranes and lower energy costs brought some estimates of seawater desalination earlier this decade to near $1000 per acre-foot. But a recent cost assessment of a desalination project in the San Francisco Bay area put costs in the range of $2000 to $3000 per acre-foot. ." Page 20 - pub Feb 2008.
10. Ms McIntyre makes excellent points. It's sad irony that global warming is threatening the health of our marine environment and future water supplies and we're considering the most energy-demanding water supply option. It is true that responsible water agencies are proving alternative intakes can avoid marine life mortality. However, this is not the approach being pursued in Carlsbad. Proper landscaping and irrigation will dramatically reduce polluted runoff and recycling can eliminate polluted discharges. It's insane to keep forcing freshwater to the ocean, just to pump it back out and waste energy to remove the salt.
Submitted by: wdi
2. Shame on you Mindy
Submitted by: barb/s
3. The next plant to be built in California will be the first large scale one on the Pacific Coast and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Properly managing water in California should take many factors into consideration--not just engineered solutions that are dependant on subsidies and cheap energy that no longer exists. Prioritize the options and ocean desal still drops to the bottom. For more information check out Dorothy Green's new book Managing Water- Avoiding Crisis in California and the Pacific Institute's “Desalination with a Grain of Salt- a California Perspective” at www.pacinst.org
Submitted by: Conner Everts
4. The promise of desalinating ocean water has been around for a long time in California, but the reality of doing it right is still a ways off. A numbers of myths have evolved, including that the water produced would replace other sources of imported water, that the costs are comparable, and that it is a reliable source of water. Experience so far has proved far differently, from the brackish Yuma Desalter to the challenged Tampa Bay facility in Florida, large scale plants haven't been the answer. We should demand the results of the research and development that Lester Snow referenced before we rush into building without the answers.
Submitted by: Conner Everts
5. I think that a huge amount of local Califronia water would become available for the people if food production in California is off-shored to Mexico/Central America..... No discussions of desalinization would even be necessary if we freed up water for people and away from farming. Submitted by: Roman _________ Oh now there is dim bulb on the Xmas tree. Other countries are to be agricultural slaves soo greedy AMercians can continue breeding like flies and having green lawns. Okay gneius tell us what happens if thsoe countries decide to NOT sell the farm produce to the US but sell it to India instead?
Submitted by: Ann
6. Continued... If indeed we are going to use reverse osmosis, why not use it to recycle water? Why do we clean water to near drinking water standards only to release it into the ocean where very little of it is ever recovered (water evaporates much better when stored on land than in an ocean). Desalination would then suck up this ocean water, re-treat it and send it on its way. Why not treat the waste stream to a higher quality and… drink it? Orange County is on board. Please see our website for more information www.desalresponsegroup.org
Submitted by: Rachel Davis
7. It is true that there are other less energy intensive methods for desalinating ocean water. These methods however, are not what is being proposed in projects like Carlsbad. The direct linkage between water and energy is something rarely acknowledged by the general public. Not only is water an effective means of storing energy (think hydro-electric dams), but producing/distributing water, as in the case of RO can be extremely energy consumptive.
Submitted by: Rachel Davis
8. I think that a huge amount of local Califronia water would become available for the people if food production in California is off-shored to Mexico/Central America. Farm water cost for the same water is about 5% of what we pay in the cities. No discussions of desalinization would even be necessary if we freed up water for people and away from farming.
Submitted by: Roman
9. Mr Snow intimates that the cost for ocean desalination is approaching that of other water sources in Southern California & is less than the 1990 cost. However, California Desalination Planning Handbook (to which he refers) advises, "Improved membranes and lower energy costs brought some estimates of seawater desalination earlier this decade to near $1000 per acre-foot. But a recent cost assessment of a desalination project in the San Francisco Bay area put costs in the range of $2000 to $3000 per acre-foot. ." Page 20 - pub Feb 2008.
Submitted by: Anisa Divine
10. Ms McIntyre makes excellent points. It's sad irony that global warming is threatening the health of our marine environment and future water supplies and we're considering the most energy-demanding water supply option. It is true that responsible water agencies are proving alternative intakes can avoid marine life mortality. However, this is not the approach being pursued in Carlsbad. Proper landscaping and irrigation will dramatically reduce polluted runoff and recycling can eliminate polluted discharges. It's insane to keep forcing freshwater to the ocean, just to pump it back out and waste energy to remove the salt.
Submitted by: Ocean Lover
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