$6 Million for Desalination Research OKd

The success of a year-old pilot project in Huntington Beach seeking a cheaper way to desalinate ocean water helped prompt a giant water agency Tuesday to commit $6 million to continue the research.

For the last year, the plant has served as a laboratory for experts searching for a more efficient way to remove salt from ocean water.

Now, the Metropolitan Water District is moving ahead to help fund the design of a larger plant at a still-undecided site that officials hope will cut the cost of desalination in half.

The MWD board on Tuesday agreed to spend $6 million on desalination efforts, primarily to design a demonstration plant somewhere in Southern California or perhaps overseas.

The board earmarked about $500,000 for a second year’s operations at the district’s smaller Huntington Beach plant, where testing suggests desalting costs can be reduced significantly.

“All we’re trying to do is show the process works,” said Gary M. Snyder, MWD chief engineer. “We’re very confident we can do it now.”

Although the idea of desalting ocean water has long held an allure for water-hungry Southern California, the technology has been hindered by its hefty price tag, tied to high construction costs and the need for large quantities of energy.

Desalination currently costs from $2,000 to $6,000 per acre foot, or about 326,000 gallons, according to the MWD.

But results from the Huntington Beach plant suggest the district’s new technology and economical construction methods could slash the cost to about $800 per acre foot, Snyder said.

The current pilot plant, off Pacific Coast Highway near Southern California Edison’s Huntington Beach power plant, produces only about 2,000 gallons a day of distilled water not used for drinking.

Now, MWD hopes to use its so-called multi-effect distillation process in the design of a larger demonstration plant, although plans do not call for it to fund actual construction. Instead, the district will work with private companies in a joint venture to design the 4-million-gallons-a-day plant.