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Whenever California is hit by drought – which is still the case despite the recent rains – many people ask, “What if we got water from the ocean?”
In San Diego County, this is already happening in a $ 1 billion facility on the beach.
Recently, while covering San Diego’s decade-long search for water stability, I visited the Carlsbad Desalination Plant, the largest of its kind in the country, to see how it works.
The facility, which opened in 2015 after a long and difficult development, essentially produces 50 million gallons of fresh drinking water every day. Seawater flows straight out of the Pacific Ocean through a massive suction pipe, where it is first pumped into tanks that work like Brita filters to remove larger things – like algae – that shouldn’t be in the drinking water.
Then the water makes its way through a labyrinth of pipes, in which further impurities are removed until basically only salt is left. This ensures that the water is ready for the signature high-tech reverse osmosis desalination process that takes place in thousands of high-stacked tubes in a cave-like building. The loud hum of the machines echoes across the room.
Inside each of these tubes are rolled up membranes that act like “microscopic sieves” as the officials describe them. The water is pushed through at high pressure and the membranes catch the salt and other dissolved minerals until only pure H2O remains.
Eventually, the water is treated to make it more like normal drinking water before it is mixed for miles with the rest of the county’s water and delivered to faucets across San Diego. The leftover brine is mixed with sea water and pumped back into the sea.
Currently, a relatively small portion of the county’s water comes from the sea – around 8 percent. Critics say it is one of the most expensive waters around and that running the facility can damage the neighboring marine ecosystem.
Officials from the San Diego County Water Authority and the private company that operates the facility, Poseidon Water, say the extra desalination cost each household an average of $ 5 a month and that they are constantly working to make the facility greener and more Energy efficient.
Above all, they say, the ocean is a rare drought-proof source of water that is definitely worth investing in.
Other coastal communities have become aware of the drought; some are researching their own desalination plants, others are considering removing salt from brackish water in rivers. Another Poseidon Water system is in the works for Huntington Beach.
For more:
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Read the full article on why San Diego has plenty of water despite a punishing drought.
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Desalinated seawater has transformed both Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. But it can be too expensive for many places that need it.
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The recent rains have suspended the drought restrictions imposed in the summer. The storm season, which usually runs from November to March, started earlier this year, but officials warn that another dry spell could soon ensue, reports The Modesto Bee.
What we eat
These colorful candy-strewn monster cookies are an amazing way to end an adult dinner.
Where are we going
Today’s travel tip comes from Ryan Ver Berkmoes, who recommends Rio Del Mar State Beach in Santa Cruz County:
Facing the ocean on the left is a seemingly endless stretch of sand that winds directly around Monterey Bay. If you just walk for a few minutes, you might see sea otters swaying lazily on their backs in the surf, as well as dolphins and seals searching for fish while whales splash offshore. Watch out for fins when great white sharks spawn here. What you won’t see are people being swallowed up in the sandy expanse.
If you look to the right, you’ll see the cement boat (also called the concrete ship), a once large cement tanker that was moored off the beach as a pleasure pier in 1929. Now it is crumbling into a great little museum where you can learn all of the improbable history.
Add a great little deli with sandwiches for beach picnics and it’s the perfect day. A few years ago, my wife and I and a couple of our loved ones rented houses in the sand for our wedding week. Truly unbelievable.
Tell us about your favorite places in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We’ll share more in the upcoming issues of the newsletter.
And before you go, some good news
Buy Nothing groups are thriving across the country.
They are networks of people, mostly on Facebook, who give and receive things for free – and treat the things that take up space in their homes as gifts to be shared and cherished.
In a time of isolation, Buy Nothing promotes a strange sense of community.
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