Desalination Plants And Its Effects

“Israel now gets 55 percent of its domestic water from desalination, and that has helped to turn one of the world’s driest countries into the unlikeliest of water giants.” (Jacobsen) Desalination is not a new idea it has been around for along time as far back as Aristotle in the 4th century and re emerging again the 1800s. Desalination is probably not going to be the magic solution to California 's drought problem at least not completely after all even the world’s biggest desal plants are only supplemental. The plants tend to not make enough water to support an entire population. Israel 's desal plant provide enough water for 2.8 million people, but California 's population is five times as bigger than israel 's and our agricultural industry is about thirty two times bigger. It can also be twice as expensive as treating other water sources due to having to heat the water. And there is also the problem of what to do with the leftover water or brine. Apparently you can’t just dump it back into the ocean as it could cause death to the nearby sea creatures due to it being too salty.

However, due to the long lasting drought in California we should heavily consider this method of producing clean water. In other parts of the world such as China, India, Australia, Spain and more they have been able to produce nearly fourteen billion gallons of drinking water through this process. The largest desalination plant in the world is located in Saudi Arabia and produces two hundred and seventy three million gallons of drinking water per day. If the United States is able to perfect this, it could fix the situation. Amanda Little does an excellent job of sharing a wide array of perspectives of desalination in her article “Can Desalination Counter The Drought”. For instance she describes the discusses the standpoint of the executive director of the California Coast keeper Alliance, Sara Aminzadeh, as she argues, “It’s just not a good option from a cost and energy standpoint.” She goes on to say, “Desalination may seem like a panacea, but it’s the worst deal out there.” Although this method may not be cost or energy efficient, this may be the only plausible method of producing clean water. As seen in Saudi Arabia this is an efficient form of creating clean water and due to the lack of resources, this may be California’s last

In recent years there has been so much talk and propaganda regarding the ongoing in drought in California. Scholars argue when the exact start of the drought was, but I believe that it started in 2007 because rainfall has fallen below average since then. Droughts occur because the quantity demanded of water does not meet the quantity supplied which leads to a shortage. The drought has impacted not only everyone in the state, but also the ecosystem. While there are many reasons why there is a shortage of water in California; today I will touch on three of them, the lack of precipitation, increase in population, and wasteful water use. In my research I will report on these three reasons and look at possible solutions for this most recent dismal event in California.

Desalination technology converts the tons of seawater that cover’s California’s coast into drinkable water. This process, though expensive and difficult, would provide California with an endless supply of water. The ocean is a huge part of the California lifestyle, and it could become a huge source of their water supply too. The Groundwater Replenishment System recycles water to be used again. It takes in about seventy million gallons of waste water a day and puts it through a cleaning and purifying process, that then makes this water safe enough to drink. Many people may not be comfortable with drinking recycled water, but this water could be put to use in landscaping and farming, adding seventy million extra gallons a day. The desalination process may be a bit far fetched for now, but using a water recycling program is completely feasible and would be a huge help in reducing California’s use of water. (only its not reducing, its just providing them with more water to use yknow? how should I phrase that?)

There is a freshwater crisis in the United States that is currently taking place in California. Unfortunately, this is California’s third consecutive year of drought. California has recorded the lowest amount of water in their reservoirs and sadly a large number of them have already dried up. The drought is regional, and caused by multiple reasons such as lack of rain, global warming, pollution, and over usage. 100 percent of the state is in drought, with 82 percent of the land designated as in ‘extreme’ or ‘exceptional’ drought, these are the highest levels on the U.S. Drought Monitor scale. Thirty-seven million people are affected by the drought.

In recent years, California’s water shortage has been an issue and in 2014 an alarming driest historical year has impacted the state in different ways. Because of the lack of rainfall and snow, California’s reservoirs are running insignificant water basins below their capacity. While water shortages are experienced slowly and throughout a length of time, the harshest impacts are noticeable in areas that produce California’s food where wells are used as resource for water in agriculture, and residential areas. Though, most agree the drought is an issue some do not agree. To understand the circumstances, this paper will look at the drought’s impacts on California’s economy for agricultural, famers, and consumers. Also, this written work will examine the environmental consequences of surface water obtainability, and the areas that have encounter the most devastating affects. For most, this paper will examine the allocations of the governor’s drought declaration, and the strategies used by residents to conserver water.

As a consequence of the ongoing California drought, cities across the state have been forced to pull water from alternate sources aside from their own. Shortages of rain and snowfall have prompted the people of California to extract water from reservoirs and basins that are getting increasingly close to running dry. Unfortunately, this issue is especially prevalent in Southern California where the population is quickly out growing the area’s fresh water supply. The general problem is that Southern California is lacking the fresh water supply necessary to sustain its inhabitants. The specific problem is that the Southern half of the state is not located near a secondary source of fresh water, unlike the northern part of the

According to David Sedlak, we have made large progress in seawater desalination for the past 2 decades. The largest seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere that is built north of San Diego uses half of the energy use than Santa Barbara 25 years ago. One reason why Sea Water is a good way to save more groundwater because we do not have a lot of water, but lots of oil. Also seawater desalination is not always good, there is a negative side. It is energy intensive; that means that it will cause a lot more climate change, but that is the only negative thing David Sadlak had mentioned about seawater desalination; but so far the new seawater desalination plant uses half the energy it used to. This would help California because it would lower the amount of water that is pumped from the ground, therefore, seawater desalination is a possible solution for conserving more

Since the discovery that desalination could provide humans in California with clean potable water from the ocean could be very effective, it

With the water crisis being seen around the world, even right here in the United States, we need to explore other options to supply fresh water to the residents. One State, in particular, that raises concern is the state of California. An alternative method to supply water to residents could be the process of desalination. Desalination is when fresh water is made by using either seawater or brackish and eliminating the minerals and salts as a way to make the water safe for human and agriculture uses ( Kesieme et al., 2013). In recent years, we have seen an increase the in the number of desalination plants around the United States (fig 1). However, is the process of desalination the answer for the water crisis going on in California? As a

The Pure Water project, a project that plans to construct three recycling plants to produce San Diego’s water supply, only requires $3.5 billion to get started – inexpensive in comparison to the amount of money it takes to import, partially purify, and desalinate water. An example of the ever-growing expense of imported water can be found in the article “Council unanimously approves purifying sewage into drinking water”, which was published to UT San Diego on November 18, 2014. In this informational article, author David Garrick states, “Councilman Scott Sherman said San Diego must fight back against sharply rising costs of imported water.” Potable water is the best way to combat the increasing prices of imported water. Rather than relying on water from the Colorado River – San Diego’s main supplier – existing water can be purified and reused. In the same article, it is also stated that, “In addition, recycling wastewater… would allow the city to avoid spending about $2.1 billion in upgrades needed at the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant” (Garrick). As mentioned in the quotation, San Diego is already spending generous amounts of money on water. This can be remedied, however, with the implication of potable water, which costs significantly less. Another one of San Diego’s pricey water sources is desalination. Desalination is the high cost, high energy process of purifying salt water to make it drinkable. In the nonfiction article “OC Coastkeeper: San Diego Swindled By Desalination, Don’t Let OC Be Next”, published on February 3, 2016 to voiceofoc.org by author Ray Hiemstra, it is stated that, “San Diego is forced to pay for the most expensive water on the market whether they need it or not”, in reference to the desalination plant managed by

Desalination is one of the more popular options being considered to attempt to terminate the drought. Desalination is a process through which salt water is pumped from the ocean in to a treatment facility, and then the salt is extracted to make it possible to be used domestically. This is a long drawn out process, which involves seven different steps. The steps of desalination include the

Though conservation is all and good, but the option of desalination has a flashier appeal. Tap the Pacific Ocean. Pump water from the ocean, remove the salt and drink. State officials are evaluating 15 proposed desal plants, and the largest such facility in the Western Hemisphere will open in Carlsbad this year.

Desalination has been a hot topic as a possible solution. What desalination does is takes sea water and convert it into fresh water. The major hurdle with this is the cost and people that protest against it. Companies will need to first get over the initial cost of building a desalination facility. Despite this companies such as Poseidon Water has a contract with San Diego to construct a desalinations plant in Carlsbad (Neill). Protesters have complained about the effects of desalination on the environment. Desalination requires large and powerful pumps to extract the water. These pumps potentially could destroy habitats and marine life that live near it. This is not the case for Carlsbad plant as it has already gone through extensive governmental

Approximately 72% of the earth is covered in water, however, of that amount, 97% is undrinkable because of the saline content. Theoretically, the ability to make that portion drinkable would mean creating a renewable source of fresh water-- a concept that, if executed properly would mean the end of water insecurity worldwide. The first record of desalination technology being used came from the writings of Aristotle, a Greek philosopher who lived during the fourth century BC. Ancient Romans used evaporation to remove the salt from water to make it potable. Since then, desalination has become much more sophisticated, but the latest technology being used is still decades old ("A Short History Of Desalination - Abengoa"). Although