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Desalination Plant Research Paper

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As the drought bakes its way toward a fourth year, the state has a string of secret weapons in the works that could supply millions of gallons of new drinking water and help stave off disaster: desalination plants.
Seventeen plants are in planning stages along the coast to convert salt water from the ocean or bays, including one near Concord that would serve every major water agency in the Bay Area.
That plant is tentatively targeted to open in 2020, but could be kick-started earlier in an emergency, officials say - and once online, would gush at least 20 million gallons a day of drinkable water.
Starting up this string of desalination plants would be no easy skate, though.
Machines that filter salt out of water still face the same opposition they have for generations from critics who say they are too expensive to run, kill fish as they …show more content…

"If we didn't have it, the whole area would be in trouble. We're not under any rationing here, but then we've been practicing conservation for years already, so we are responsible about our water use.
"I would absolutely recommend desalination for other areas."
Bay Area project
Two hours north of Sand City, there is cautious enthusiasm for the $150 million Bay Area Regional Desalination Plant - as well as serious reservations.
The biggest water agencies in the area, including San Francisco's, have been developing the plant since 2003 and ran a successful small pilot version of it three years ago to make sure the location would work. The plant would sit in windswept Mallard Slough outside Bay Point and draw from delta waters flowing into Suisun Bay.
"Certainly, the project is years out from being done, but it could be in the back of people's minds as a 'what if' - and if we got into dire straits, money could be mobilized fast to finish it," said Steve Ritchie, assistant general manager for water for the San Francisco Public Utilities

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