Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/107143
Bay Area desalination decision is only 9 months away _________ Robin Wiseman, editor, D&WR ___ REGIONS AS THE SEARCH for an acceptable regional desalination project in California's Monterey peninsula spirals into an ever more confusing vortex of halfthought-out projects, court cases, name-calling and blame-laying (see Project Progress page 26), further north in the state, another regional desalination project is taking shape. The Bay Area Regional Desalination Project (BARDP) is a partnership formed by the San Francisco region's largest water agencies to evaluate regional options to address water shortages. While this project is evaluating desalination, other options, including recycled water and conservation continue to be evaluated as well. The project would serve the needs of over 5.6 million residents and businesses in the Bay Area. The Contra Costa Water District (CCWD), the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), and the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) have collaborated since 2003, while Zone 7 Water Agency joined the project in 2010. Technical studies conducted in 2005 identified three locations in the Bay Area where a regional desalination facility could be located. A site on the Pacific coast at Oceanside and on the main San Francisco Bay close to the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge were eventually eliminated leaving a chosen site in Contra Costa County on a narrow eastward stretch of the Bay into the delta where salinity is much lower. A 6-month pilot test was completed in April 2009 at the site - CCWD's Mallard Slough Pump Station which confirmed the technical viability of the project. The benefits of this particular site were seen to be: l An opportunity to add to the existing body of research by testing brackish water desalination l An already permitted water intake for Mallard Slough Pump Station l Existing facilities with a state-of-the-art fish screen. A site-specific analysis (SSA) is taking place in 20112013 including detailed hydraulic modelling, fisheries and water quality modelling, a storage optimization analysis, and a greenhouse gas analysis. In June 2013, individual agencies are expected to make a decision about participation in the project and whether to initiate a project-specific Environmental Impact Report. The project has been holding workshops with local interest groups to keep their communities informed. At these workshops, BARDP has stressed the examination of other options such as more conservation and wastewater reuse. The workshops also highlighted some of the partners' plans for reuse: l EBMUD – 20 MGD (75,000 m3/d) of recycled water by 2040 l SCVWD - Evaluating the feasibility of using | 30 | Desalination & Water Reuse | August-September 2012 Energy comparisons of Bay Area water supply options