 In The News
Index
Archived Articles
December 1999
Ian Watson|
ADA Board of Directors
July 30, 1999
David Derr
ADA Board of Directors
May 31, 1999
John E. Potts
ADA Board of Directors
March 30, 1999
Lynne Gulizia
ADA Board of Directors
December 1999
Ian Watson
ADA Board of Directors
Originator of the Water Desalination Act of 1999, former Senator Paul Simon, Opens
the Symposium, "The Role of Desalination in Averting a Global Water Crisis"
On September 19th, 1999, Paul Simon opened the
symposium, “The Role of Desalination in Averting a Global Water Crisis”. Mr. Simon, Director of the Public Policy Institute
at Southern Illinois University, and a former U.S. Senator, is a supporter of
desalination, and the author of the “Simon Bill”, which became “The Water
Desalination Act of 1996”.
In the next day and a half, we were treated to a wide variety of perspectives on water
resources; environmental concerns; geopolitics; desalting technology and costs; and
government activity. The underlying theme of
the event was (as expressed in Mr. Simon’s book Tapped Out) that a global
water crisis is imminent. The presentations
and discussions were devoted to the thesis that desalination is the only tool available to
solve many of the world’s indigenous water supply issues, and that this needs to be
done before major wars erupt over water resources.
We heard about unbridled population growth in many regions of the
world with scarce water resources, from Werner Fornos, President of the Population
Institute. Peter Glieck discussed sustainable
development of freshwater resources, the need to improve agricultural irrigation
practices, and the difficulties in dealing with multinational watersheds. Gordon Leitner and Floyd Wicks contributed their
perspectives, one as a career desalter and one as CEO of a private water company. One example given by this panel was of Turkey and
its plan to dam the Euphrates River, which flows through Syria and Iraq on its way to the
Shatt-el-Arab and the Arabian Gulf. The
problems of a sustainable water supply for Gaza and the West Bank were described.
After dinner, former Congressman Wayne Owens gave the keynote address. Mr. Owens is now the President of the Center for
Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation in Washington, D.C. He spoke about the efforts of his organization to
assist in developing dialogue between Israel, Jordan and Palestine so that a solution to
the most pressing issue of that region, water, could be found. He discussed a conference in Amman, Jordan in
November 1999, at which President Mubarak, King Abdullah and Yasser Arafat will be
present. The focus of the conference will
include the use of desalination in the region to ease the water resource issues impacting
the peace process. He also talked about the
plans for the Red-Dead and Med-Dead Canals, two projects that include massive desalting
components.
The next day we heard about the Tampa Bay success story from Pete
Hoffman and Mark Hammond, and a brief but amusing history of desalination from Jim
Birkett. Bill Warren of the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency made a fascinating presentation about some of the (unclassified)
work being conducted in support of the Defense mission.
In the afternoon, representatives from the Bureau of Reclamation
(Kevin Price), the World Bank (Andrew Macoun), the International Water Supply Association
(Glenn Stout), and the American Desalting Association (Ian Watson), talked about
government and institutional initiatives. During
this panel discussion, “virtual” water was introduced and explained. Virtual water is water that is imported to a
country or region as a component of something else, primarily food. By embracing the concept of virtual water, many
countries (Tunisia was given as an example) can focus their water resources on building
their economies and infrastructure, and using this growth to subsidize the purchase of
agricultural products such as grain.
The luncheon was an opportunity for the attendees to talk about a
variety of subjects. The issues ranged from
water supply in Paul Simon’s home community to stop/go signs for dishwashers. The primary theme, however, was the need to focus
on two areas – conservation (particularly agriculture) and population growth control.
After lunch panel participants formed a working group, developed a
position paper, and a press conference was held where the recommendations were presented.
The message of the Symposium was clear and very urgent. As Paul Simon expressed in Tapped Out,
"the world’s population will double within the next century and per capita water
consumption has doubled as the emerging nations of the world improve their standards of
living. Conflict on a grand scale will be
about water, and winning means survival." Clearly,
desalination is the key to future world water supply.
July 30, 1999
David Derr
ADA Board of Directors
Several articles of interest were identified in April, May and June 1999. At Dublin San
Ramon, district officials are trying to change the public’s opinion on turning sewage
into drinking water by opening the doors to the WTP from 5 to 7 p.m. every Thursday. The
WTP uses micro-filtration (MF), reverse osmosis (RO) and ultra-violet (UV) processes. As
you may recall, the Clean Water Revival project was shut down last year by a handful of
protestors at a Regional Water Quality Board meeting.
The State of California has a new Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund that will
soon spend $ 90 million upgrading water districts throughout California. It was noted in
an article from the LA Times that State Department of Health Services officials have
identified 3,300 potential projects at an estimated cost of $7.5 billion (you do the
math).
Pasquotank County commissioners agreed to pursue the construction of a RO WTP for
Weeksville, North Carolina to begin operation in the next 4 to 5 years. The Chesapeake RO
plant recently had a dedication celebration marking the final acceptance by the Virginia
Department of Health. The plant produces 10 MGD of water.
Boca Raton’s City Council voted on April 12th to build a RO plant of
unknown size. Construction is due to start in December 2000. The City of Hollister, CA
released the Hollister Area Urban Water Management Plan 2000 which recommended a 7 MGD RO
plant as part of the mix to meet area demands through 2020. At Grand Targhee Ski and
Summer Resort, Wyoming, a new wastewater plant was installed that will meet future demands
and the discharge meets drinking water quality standards using MF and VF. Water is
discharged from the plant to a creek. The EPA wants the new Walnut Hill WTP to include
filtration and Massachusetts Water Resources Authority will do battle in court in October
insisting that ozonation and chlorine treatment are all that is needed to meet water
quality standards. The cost of the filtration is an additional $180 million to the already
planned $260 million WTP.
There were several articles and "Letters to the Editors" written about Tampa
Bay Water’s Sea Water project. Nothing new to report other than the alternate well
field sites and a possible lawsuit by one of the losing bidders claiming that the process
was manipulated to favor the successful bidder; suit was filed in late April.
Articles on other uses for membrane technology dealt with the recycling of coolants and
rinse water treatment techniques used in coating applications.
There have been several articles written around the country regarding water treatment
at the tap. From New Hampshire, Ohio, Missouri, New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan, Idaho,
Florida and California came articles dealing with the cost of competing technologies to
clean up the water from the local supply. The underlying theme in these articles is that
the quality of the national water supply is diminishing and the public needs to know what
is in the water, and in a lot of cases, it is not suitable for consumption. It was
interesting to note that in "under the sink" RO units, the customer must pay for
both the concentrate water, as well as the drinkable permeate. It would seem to make a
good case for building municipal systems where customers only pay for the product water.
This also exposes another problem for our distribution systems which are coated with the
dissolved solids that may re-contaminate cleaned water after leaving the WTP.
If you have items of interest to share, please send them to ADA headquarters so we may
include them in the bi-monthly "In the News" column.
May 31, 1999
John E. Potts
ADA Board of Directors
Well it is my turn again to review newspaper articles from across the
nation and share with the ADA membership what is happening in the desalting industry.
If these newspaper articles are to be believed, only the Tampa Bay
Seawater Desalting project is happening. This is truly a milestone project which will
demonstrate that seawater desalting is both technologically and economically feasible in
the United States. The quoted prices are truly astounding with a bid cost of $1.71 per
1,000 gallons. Tampa Bay Water, the water supply system responsible for this project,
should be congratulated for perseverance in staying with this controversial project for
this long. Unfortunately, more than half of the articles were devoted to misplaced
concerns about disposal of the concentrate from this project.
Two articles spoke of an issue familiar to ADA – the lack of water
in the Middle East. Drought in the area of Israel and Jordan has rekindled the interest in
desalting seawater. As Senator Simon said to us many times - peace in the Middle East may
be lost due to the lack of fresh water. Desalting of seawater has been proposed but
rejected by Israel as too costly. They should visit Tampa Bay.
Pascagoula, Mississippi is moving ahead with a reverse osmosis
treatment process for its water system. Bids are expected to be out by mid-April.
The obligation to read through these clippings and produce an article
carries with it the freedom to make editorial comments. There is much more than Tampa Bay
going on in the desalting industry right now. As an industry, we all need to be less
secretive in our projects and do a better job of spreading the word that our technology
can solve the water problems in a lot of different areas and that it is economically
feasible. Without this effort, we will remain locked away in obscurity.
March 30, 1999
Lynne Gulizia
ADA Board of Directors
Articles from around the country this month focused on the quality of our drinking
water supplies and concerns about the most cost effective way to maintain and ensure
reliable drinking water.
Columbus, New Mexico is dealing with fluoride levels in the drinking water at an
elementary school that are twice that allowed by the EPA. "The least expensive way to
reduce fluoride in drinking water…is through reverse osmosis". Although the
school has a reverse osmosis system on site, they have yet to hook it up because of
concerns over the amount of concentrate that would be discharged to the school’s
septic system. The problem should be alleviated soon when a new sewer line is installed.
Alberta, Canada and Albuquerque, New Mexico are both dealing with arsenic in their
water supplies. The U.S. EPA is considering lowering the arsenic standard from the current
50 ppb to as low as 2 ppb, with compliance mandatory by 2004. These new regulations could
be costly for communities who would then have to turn to advanced treatment technologies
to remove the arsenic. Reverse osmosis is considered one of the best methods for removing
arsenic. Other communities that may also be affected by the new standards are El Paso, TX;
Phoenix, AZ and parts of California.
The Yorktown-Eastover Aquifer in Virginia is showing signs of saltwater intrusion which
has residents concerned. Bottineau City in North Dakota is examining treatment
technologies to remove iron and manganese, soften the water, and reduce sulfates and total
TDS. Reverse osmosis is one of the treatment options being studied.
San Diego’s scheme of repurifying the City’s sewage for its drinking water
supply no longer has support or funding from the City Council. The plan has been put on
hold indefinitely.
The other project that has been getting everyone’s attention for the past several
months is the Tampa Bay desalination project. Stone and Webster’s bid to build, own
and operate the 25 MGD plant was chosen as the top ranked proposal. Costs range from
$1.71/1000 gallons for the first year of operation to $1.86/1000 gallons for the 30 year
average. The low pricing has virtually eliminated criticism of the project. Another
Florida city, Jacksonville, is also assessing its future water demands, but does not
foresee the need for desalination for Northeast Florida at this time.
An article published by the American Public Works Associated and co-authored by ADA
Second Vice President John Potts, describes the advances in membrane technology that have
led to RO being economically viable for many more communities and applications.
Not only have capital costs declined, but operating costs as well. "Adding
membrane facilities to existing conventional facilities may also forestall even more
expensive replacements of existing facilities as new federal drinking water standards make
existing treatment facilities non-compliant. … membrane technology may make the
crisis in attainable drinking water sources a thing of the past."
Other articles described the use of reverse osmosis for spot free rinse car wash
systems and for use in nurseries and greenhouses to reduce salinity in the water used to
irrigate the plants. These articles illustrate some of the widespread uses of membrane
technology in industrial applications. |
