Water. desalination + reuse

PROJECTS PROJECTPROGRESS AlgERiAn miniSTER AnnOunCES dESAlinATiOn PlAnT AT El mARSA Algeria's minister of water resources, Hocine Necib, announced on 6 October 2013 that a seawater desalination plant would be constructed "soon" in the town of El Marsa, according to the state-run Algeria Press Service. The proposed plant would supply the population of El Marsa municipality, which is a popular tourist destination, and the project would include renovation of the dilapidated drinking water network of the city of Skikda and nearby towns. Emphasising efforts by the Department of Water Resources to make the country safe from drought, the minister said it was "unacceptable" that the people of Skikda still lacked water when the region had four dams and a 100,000 m3/d seawater desalination plant located in the industrial area. COmmiSSiOn vOTE hAlTS hunTingTOn BEACh APPliCATiOn Poseidon Water withdrew its application for a coastal development permit (CDP) for its proposed Huntington Beach seawater desalination plant after the California Coastal Commission voted on 13 November 2013 to postpone a vote on the application. This followed a recommendation from commission staff that the project should be approved if it uses a subsurface infiltration gallery for its intake. In a letter to the commissioners on 8 November 2013, Poseidon described this recommendation as "an effective denial of Poseidon's proposed project". In the letter, Poseidon stated that the "alternative project" would require Poseidon to restart the entitlement and environmental review processes, prepare dozens of new studies and seek new approvals from those agencies with jurisdiction over the project, including potentially obtaining multiple amendments to any CDP approved by the Commission. "This would effectively terminate this very important project, a vital component of Orange County's future water supply," said the letter. Nevertheless, Poseidon Water vice president Scott Maloni was quoted after the hearing as calling the commission's action a "win-win." He said the company will study subsurface intakes, work with commission staff and resubmit its permit application, sometime in 2014. SOlEnT dESAlinATiOn PlAnT fORESEEn fOR uK By 2028 The UK's Southern Water is looking at a 20,000 m3/d Solent Coast desalination scheme, to be built in the county of Hampshire by 2028. The project is among just-published changes made to the company's draft Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) for 2015-2040 as a result of customer feedback. This has resulted in abandonment for the near future of a proposed similar desalination scheme for the Isle of Wight. However, the new report observes, "We will be investigating | 26 | Desalination & Water Reuse | November-December 2013 the desalination options further in the 2015-2020 period and will reconsider the most appropriate locations, scale and timing of these options in our next WRMP." dETAilEd dESign finiShEd fOR wAvE-EnERgy dESAlinATiOn Australian wave-energy developer Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd announced on 31 October 2013 the completion of the detailed design of its wave-powered desalination pilot plant. The pilot plant will be integrated into Carnegie's Perth Wave Energy Project on Garden Island, Western Australia, and will demonstrate for the first time the production of both power and freshwater from ocean waves. The detailed design of the desalination plant has been carried out by global engineering firm GHD, local Perth-based desalination manufacturer Mak Water Industrial and Carnegie's technical team. The design integrates operation of Carnegie's novel CETO technology offshore with standard reverse-osmosis desalination technology onshore. The detailed design phase also involved environmental investigation, which has been completed to provide baseline data to monitor ongoing CWE site activity, as well as assisting and informing design and construction phase of the CWE project. SAnTA CRuz PROJECT PAuSE lEAvES SOquEl diSTRiCT quAndARy The decision of Santa Cruz City Council on 8 October 2013 to halt all practical progress on its proposed seawater desalination plant has left its partner in the project, Soquel Creek Water District looking for alternatives. One of these could be the DeepWater Desal proposal in nearby Moss Landing, which was passed over for supply to the Monterey peninsula in favour of the California American Water Regional Desalination Project. The Santa Cruz council accepted a proposal by councilman Don Lane to halt work on the initial environmental impact report for the desalination plant, effectively stopping progress on the project. Instead the council will start a new process to review all alternatives for ensuring its future water supply, before desalination will be even considered. Soquel Creek, naturally, is now looking for a Plan B, which could either be the DeepWater proposal or even its own desalination plant. BARKA SwRO dESAlinATiOn ExTEnSiOn in finAl COmmiSSiOning ACWA Power Barka SAOG reported to the Muscat Securities Market on 27 October 2013 that it was in the final stages of commissioning its 10 MIGD (45,400 m3/d) seawater reverse osmosis Desalination Expansion Project. The plant is expected to achieve its commercial operations within November.

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