Archive for the ‘Desalination’ Category
Desal for Cambria
I wonder how many reading this were around in 1996. FYI the CCSD at that time had a Desalination system designed, permitted and ready to be constructed. We had spent over 3 million dollars on this very complicated problem dealing with many varied government agencies. Funny thing is that it was 3 times the size of the system now being discussed. We were going to supply San Simeon with water (with their monetary participation) as well as allow for controlled growth in Cambria. The NO GROWTH group was successful in defeating the majority on the Board who had devised this dastardly plan. The newly elected Directors immediately fired the General Manager (David Andre) and killed the desalination plan. Now here we are 12 years later trying to do the same thing at much greater cost and one third the size.
I would suggest that all voters who are concerned about where our water will come from when we have the draught which is sure to come, screen carefully those running for office in the coming election.
Reginald Perkins (former CCSD president)
California Coastal Commission Approves Desal for San Diego
From the Associated Press:
The California Coastal Commission approved a plan to build the Western Hemisphere’s largest desalination plant north of San Diego — a move aimed at relieving water shortages in the nation’s most populated state.
Wednesday’s decision came after a daylong debate over the merits of the $300 million Carlsbad project, which is expected to eventually produce 10 percent of San Diego County’s water supply from ocean water.
Read the rest of the article here.
Tags: Desalination
The Daily Kos and the New Republic on Desalination
Desalination is apparently hot topic of the week. The New Republic’s website has posted “A New Day for Desalination” which says the time for desalination may be now and if not now, then soon.
Indeed, one of the main reasons why it’s been successful in the Persian Gulf (in addition to there being very little freshwater there) is that Gulf States have a huge energy-generating capacity, particularly in the winter, when air conditioners aren’t running and excess electricity can be used for desalination. It’s cost-effective to do this in Dubai, but California, while dry, isn’t quite dry enough for large-scale desalination to be worthwhile–yet. A half-century of a warming climte might change that.
Progressive Blog, 
recently posted this article about the energy costs related to desalination. It includes a link to the California Coastal Commission’s Primer on desalination and a brief discussion of how much energy we would use if everyone was using desal.
In May, Business Week published an article focusing on the investment and financial elements of desalination. Read that article and get in on almost the ground floor of a maturing industry.
And Yuba.Net has an interesting article “Researchers Race to Make Desalination Eco-Friendly While There’s Still Time”
And Water and Wastewater News (an industry journal) published this interesting article yesterday: “Researchers Try to Mitigate Desalination Effects”, and in May “Salt Removal May Make Desalination More Viable”
Recent advances in technology have made removing salt from seawater and groundwater a realistic option for increasing water supplies in some parts of the United States, and desalination will likely have a niche in meeting the nation’s future water needs, says a report from the National Research Council.
However, a coordinated research effort with steady funding is required to better understand and minimize desalination’s environmental impacts — and find ways to further lower its costs and energy use.
And there are always new developments in the technology used. A Bay Area company, Energy Recovery, Inc. has developed an ingenious pump that greatly reduces the energy needed to extract salt from seawater, a small but vital innovation that could help transform ocean water into something fit to drink. Read more about it here.
Credit to 
for the heads up about the DailyKos post.
Tags: dailykos, Desalination, energy, leftyblogs
Water in the Media - Shortages and Solutions
Two articles of note you might want to check out - the first an op-ed from LA Times, the other an article from Scientific American magazine.
Something tells me many of you have already read the LA Times piece, but for those of your who haven’t:
Oceans of water
Although desalination is costly and energy intensive, it should be part of our long-term strategy.
It’s easy to understand why so many of us, hearing of threats from climate change and shrinking water supplies, turn our gaze west to the mighty Pacific. The Colorado River, a water source strained to its limits, once seemed endless. The ocean practically is endless. As Saudi Arabia and now Australia have shown, it is possible to remove the salt from ocean water and get perfectly decent — indeed, quite high-quality — drinking water.
…
Because of strict development regulations on the coast, acquiring permits for desalination plants is a complicated and expensive process. Poseidon Resources Corp., a water infrastructure development company based in Stamford, Conn., has spent tens of millions of dollars and 10 years on a plant in Carlsbad that will produce 50 million gallons a day — and it hasn’t even broken ground. If the company gets final approval from the Coastal Commission on Aug. 6, it will spend at least $300 million more on capital costs before it produces its first drop of desalinated water, which won’t be before 2011.
…
In the short term, desalinated water is unaffordable for Los Angeles — though it may make better economic sense as imported water becomes scarcer and pricier. In a place like San Diego County, which has few local water resources and depends almost entirely on imported water from the MWD and even more expensive supplies, desal makes a lot more sense. Hoping to lessen cities’ dependence on water from the delta and the Colorado, the MWD offers a $250-per-acre-foot subsidy for water districts for the purchase of desalinated water, which could make Poseidon’s Carlsbad water, for example, almost competitive with imported water (with the added bonus of being drought-proof and therefore dependable).
…
But desalination is just one in a broad portfolio of technologies and strategies that California will have to employ to meet its water needs in the decades to come. Throughout the state — and especially in Los Angeles, where water is relatively cheap — conservation, wastewater recycling, storm water capture and other approaches must come first. Desalination isn’t some kind of magic that will allow us to continue sprinkling our sidewalks, hosing down our driveways and taking hourlong showers. Its modest promise cannot become an excuse to waste water. It must be a complement to conservation — not an alternative to it.
Keeping perspective
One of the things that caught my eye in the op/ed just points out how skewed the basis is for evaluating “shortage”. “an acre foot, or 326,000 gallons, is enough water to supply two families for one year.” Just so we can keep this in perspective, to use an acre foot in a year, each family would have to use 36 units every two months or 440 gallons per family per day. In reviewing the issue, most Americans outside California use somewhere around 100 gallons a day. Even Californian average somewhere closer to 150 gallons per person per day. I don’t know where the write got his information, but I dispute its validity in the real world. According to the CCSD, “most Cambrians” use 12 units bi-monthly. One acre-foot of water here is enough for six families. Drop the usage to 9 units per billing cycle and one acre-foot is enough for eight families.
Scientific American’s most recent issue has water as its cover story. “Facing the Freshwater Crisis” puts our water woes into a global perspective. The main thrust of this article is that the technologies already exist to solve the water shortages, we just have to have the political will to do what needs to be done. Read the article here.
Note: Articles about water often refer to water using all kinds of different units. It’s always bothered me and it makes it difficult to compare to my own use. Like in the Op-ed piece - I wanted to see if I use half an acre-foot of water a year….so I opened my handy-dandy water calculator/converter. You can download this excel calculator to convert and calculate acre-feet, gallons to liters, cubic meters to gallons, CCSD units to Acre-feet and much more. Get it in the AboutCambria.com Library.
More valuable than a gallon of gas? Say YES! with a small donation today.Tags: desal, LA Times, Scientific American, water shortage
CCSD Meeting July 24, 2008
First a note to anyone at Thursday’s Meeting:
Please add your impressions and what you remember of the meeting. The audio isn’t yet posted at slo-span.org, and I wasn’t there for the whole meeting. So readers can easily follow the added information, use the comment feature (Click comments or click the post title to easily enter comments.) Readers who were not at the meeting are encouraged to use the comment feature to post a specific question about the meeting or related CCSD business.
Sheriff’s Report
The Sheriff reminded everyone that they should get locking gas caps - a rash of gas lines being cut in Cayucos. Also reminded everyone that the Hands-Free cell law in now in effect.
Emergency Preparedness Report
Chief Putney provided a presentation on Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) CERT is made up of local residents trained to help professional emergency services personnel in the event of an emergency.
He gave the history of CERT, from its birth in the 1980s to the birth of Cambria CERT was formed in 2002-2003. If you are interested in CERT history, visit slo-span.org to listen to the audio.
Norm Smith - Coordinator for Cambria CERT described a little about how they are organized and how they respond in the event of and emergency, including providing basic medical aid, building searches, traffic control. If your wouldl like to get involved and join CERT, there’s 20 hours of training in the spring. Contact the Fire Department for more information.
The Chief described the relationships between CCSD Fire and other emergency-related agencies and organizations and how they interact in the event of an emergency. Again, for all the details, check out the audio at slo-span.org. The Cambria Fire Safe Focus Group is more about preparedness - things like chipping, lot-clearing, and education about how to be prepared for a major fire.
Important to note: The Cambria Fire Safe Focus Group has a new website CambriaFireSafe.org
Desalination: Progress Report
Bob Gresans started off by saying he’d be brief, but was encouraged by President Cobin, who said,” You have the stage, don’t be brief, give us all the facts. We’re really excited about the progress.” Mr. Gresans then summarized the staff report (available in the Board Packet). There wasn’t much he said in his presentation that’s not in the written report. In a nutshell, in response to comments made in December at the Coastal Commission meeting, the CCSD undertook some geophysical investigation of the Santa Rosa Creek beach area, as an alternative site for the intake wells for the desalination (desalinization?) plant. They were somewhat surprised to discover that this area could be a better spot than the San Simeon location. No Snowy Plover, consistent with coastal plan, and other advantages. They still need to do soil boring to confirm the findings from these studies - potentially an intake in the northernmost channel and the outflow at the southern end.
In the Q & A with Mr. Gresans - Director Sanders asked whether the channel is deep enough for an intake for desal. The answer was a qualified yes. The studies he presented are preliminary and not highly detailed. The follow-up studies would provide the information to confirm the findings of this study.
Rough estimate of timetable: on site investigations, permitting process, working with the Corps: “Update the prior environmental assessments and the mitigated Negative Declarations from the earlier project so we have the clearance process (3 months) coastal consistency finding from Coastal Commission and getting on their agenda for November or December. Mr. Gresans indicated optimistic prediction:late this fall for further studies. Director Sanders said he thought staff was moving on the project in the way the Board wants, so they should endorse the report and let them get on with it.
Director Chaldecott then let everyone know that he and Director Sanders had met with the Colonel from the Army Corp of Engineers and they were ‘raring to go on the project. The Board will be signing the contract with the Corps, who will then take over the project (including paying for it). Interesting side note: The Federal government had allocated the money a few years back, but then “took it back” to help cover the costs for Hurricane Katrina. The money is now apparently available again and is earmarked for Cambria’s Desal.
There were 7 Cambrians that commented and asked questions some for the project and some against and some just curious. Rich Davega asked a few questions it would be very nice to get answers to, namely, How much will the Desal plant cost when it’s all said and done and how much will that water cost? Will Cambrians really be able to afford the full cost of the water being desalted? There was no answer from the Board or staff at the meeting. Perhaps the answer will be provided at the next meeting. That should be plenty of time to gather the information. And the information is certainly of relevance to the people of Cambria. We may have a $10 million appropriation, but the water isn’t likely to be subsidized when it starts flowing to our taps.
Cambria Healthcare District and the CCSD
During the Board committee reports, the Co-Location Committee announced that the Joint Powers agreement between the CCSD and the CHCD had fallen through. The Healthcare District and the CCSD had been negotiating for a number of years and the Board of the Heathcare District voted unanimously to give up on the co-location plan. Next month’s meeting will provide a final wrap up of the effort, including the reasons the CHCD made the decision they did.
Public Hearing to Consider Fire Suppression Assessment (CPI) Adjustment
Last month, the Board voted to continue the hearing to this meeting to allow the General Manager to bring back evidence showing the 2.9% increase is really needed. Once again, Ms. Rudock provided only general evidence and vague examples of how the additional $11,000 would be used. After asking some specific questions, Directors Clift, Funke-Bilu, and Sanders voted against the increase, so no increase on the fire suppression benefit assessment this year. I applaud these Directors for asking for the evidence and consequences if the increase did not go through and then acting in the interest of the community they serve. The point to be made here wasn’t that the fire department doesn’t deserve to have all the money they need. It was that they already have all the money they need for the fiscal year. The three directors showed support for a policy that asks staff to justify their financial demands with hard evidence and sound logic. The failure to approve the increase will not negatively affect the Fire Department - their budget shows a surplus…even without that $11,000. Just because they CAN get more money out of us doesn’t mean they should automatically do it. I think these Directors have heard the half of the community that has been protesting the rate increases and are representing them.
Other News
The Vets’ Hall finally has a new roof - and for less than was originally budgeted! Funny story that. The initial roofing company they chose to do the job gave a bid, but was disqualified because of a lack of liability insurance. The second company (Cencal Roofing) provided a bid for the same job that was about $2,000 less than the first contractor - and even with contingencies, came in even further under budget than they planned. The first company bid $25,783 and Cencal’s was $22,985. Good thing for Cambrians that first company didn’t have insurance! [Note: The CCSD Purchasing Policy (Section VIII A, B and C) requires any job over $25,000 to be put to out to bid...must be a coincidence those numbers.]
What about the vote????
Sorry, Cambria. The League of Women Voters representatives are not yet ready to certify the count. There is more validating to be done and Ms. Rudock indicated she isn’t sure when they might finish. Ten to sixteen hours left of work to do in checking. She did say they would still be able to meet the September 1st implementation date, should the CCSD prevail.
Stay tuned…This was a four hour meeting and we’re just about 2 hours in. More tomorrow. Or you can add your impressions now!
More valuable than a gallon of gas? Say YES! with a small donation today.Tags: assessment, Cambria, CCSD, desal, Desalination, meeting
$1.3 Million “Surplus” at CCSD for FY 2008-2009
At the 7/24/08 CCSD Board meeting a detailed presentation was made on the latest studies for desal. During the meeting CCSD informed the audience that the geotechnical studies during the fiscal year will be paid for by the Army Corps of Engineers. I then asked the Board about the $1.3 million budgeted for geotechnical studies, which would now not be needed. The response from Mr. Greshens was that “they would like to keep that money for eventual desal costs”, but I was correct that it would not be needed for 2008-2009 studies.
Well, I guess that they can use some of this money for the defeated fire suppression benefit assessment expenses, some $11,000.
Do we need the rate increases at all in the face of this “surplus”?
July 24 CCSD Meeting Preparation
Tomorrow’s CCSD meeting will include a status report on the Desalination project. In February 2008, the state published a handbook on desalination planning, based on the findings of the California Desalination Task Force. From the introduction to the handbook:
“In September 2002, AB 2717 was signed into law, designating the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to establish the California Desalination Task Force (Task Force) to “make recommendations related to potential opportunities for the use of seawater and brackish water desalination.” The Task Force, through DWR, was to report to the legislature on potential opportunities for the use of seawater and brackish water desalination in California, impediments to the use of desalination technology; and what role, if any, the State should play in furthering the use of desalination technology.”
This Handbook builds on the report from the Task Force, which includes a list of key findings and major recommendations, submitted to the State Legislature in early 2004. (Chapter 9, #1 contains a link to the Task Force findings and recommendations.)
The Task Force was comprised of a broad array of stakeholders who worked to develop consensus on the many recommendations developed. While consensus was not achieved on all points, the findings and recommendations highlighted were broadly supported by Task Force members. Furthermore, the Handbook is intended to outline a process to assist in: 1) determining the appropriate conditions, 2) addressing identified concerns, and 3) building public trust for desalination projects.”
You can read the handbook by downloading it here. I have highlighted some parts of the handbook I found useful or interesting. You can download one without highlighting from the State Water Resources Department web site.
Tags: Cambria, CCSD, Desalination, water supply
Desalination, Water and Protecting the Planet
I don’t know about the rest of Cambrians, but for me the jury on desalination is still out. There are many things to consider. An article I read recently seemed to be against them as a general rule, even as the writer acknowledged water scarcity was a problem. Wenonah Hauter, executive director of D.C.-based nongovernmental organization and consumer group Food and Water Watch, was recently quoted in an Alternet.com article saying: “We are facing a time of great water scarcity and unpredictable climate change…It’s time for us to take action to protect our planet.”
She went on to say, “Rather than solving water scarcity issues, desalination is an expensive technology that has the potential to cause many unintended consequences. Instead, we should be taking the proactive steps to stop polluting, diverting and wasting water.” And while conservation and more efficient, conscientious management of the water we have left may not be as sexy an option for capitalists and technologists, it is so far the most inexpensive and least dangerous proposition on the table. “We are actually destroying the hydrologic cycle with our mismanagement” (Maude) Barlow warned. And you can add desalination, at least in the near term, to that very long list of bad management plans.
Read the full article on alternet.com
Water Crisis in California
Worldwide there is a growing, severe problem of water availability. It is reaching crisis proportions. In the Southwest of the U.S., and here in California, the situation is bleak.
In a recent Los Angeles Times article, Timothy Quinn, Executive Director of the Association of California Water Agencies said, “I have not seen a more serious water situation in my career, and I’ve been doing this 30 years.”
Despite the situation in most parts of the world, the CCSD’s Water Master Plan is calling for a 50% “Quality of Life” increase for Cambrians, a reward for conservation which all of us should practice all the time. That suggested reward seems to be one of the justifications, if not the major reason, for pushing a horrendously expensive — to build and to operate — desalination project for a town of only about 6,200 homeowners.
It is ludicrous if not irresponsible to advocate a 50% increase in local water usage when the planet’s total water supply is in deep trouble. The current Directors seem to have blinders on, driving non-stop for desal and failing to consider other, cheaper alternatives such as increased storage and recyclilng.
The Building Reduction Program, touted by consultants, of course, could cost as much as $39 million according to their conservative estimates. The whole idea is to reduce buildable lots and thus “manage” Cambria’s population growth.
A member of the County Planning and Building Department says, “The BRP is pie in the sky. One successful lawsuit demanding a water meter by someone not on the list will kill the BRP and growth will be rampant” — once there is desal.
More valuable than a gallon of gas? Say YES! with a small donation today.A Cautionary Tale
Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant, Florida, USA
Despite a troubled history, including the bankruptcy of three of the companies involved and a dispute over ownership and control which reached the Federal Courts, the Tampa Bay plant is now expected to be fully operational in early 2008 – some six years behind its original schedule.
The largest seawater desalination facility in the United States, it is intended to produce an initial 95,000m3 of water per day, with a future planned expansion to increase this by a further 37,000m3/day to help reduce the growing demand on the area’s aquifers.
For more information please see http://www.water-technology.net/projects/tampa/.