Water. desalination + reuse

PROJECTS | 24 | Desalination & Water Reuse | May-June 2014 integration costs. Also, groundwater conservation districts have the authority to regulate withdrawals of water from aquifers, often with little notice or process for appeal. DESalinaTiOn PilOT-STuDy funDing fOR CORPuS ChRiSTi A further step towards a future seawater desalination plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, was taken on 22 April 2014, when the city council approved funding for a pilot study to be undertaken by Freese & Nichols Inc (FNI). The consultant had previously assisted the city in obtaining a Bureau of Reclamation grant of US$ 400,000 towards the study, towards which the city has now approved additional funding of US$ 1,080,735. Originally foreseen as being realised in the 2040-2060 time period, recent droughts have brought the proposed 25 MGD (95,000 m 3 /d) desalination plant more into focus. It has always been seen as the centrepiece of an alternative strategy for the regional water plan for the Coastal Bend Regional Water Planning Group. FNI will now provide four technical memoranda that will be completed in a period of six months leading up to the implementation of the pilot study. The first two will focus on desalination technologies and pilot plant siting, while the latter two will look at the development of requirements and protocols for future work. PubliC mEETing SET fOR San JOaquin EiS The US Bureau of Reclamation has set a public scoping meeting for 13 May 2014 as part of the environmental impact statement process for the proposed North Valley Regional Recycled Water Program (NVRRWP) in California's San Joaquin Valley. The NVRRWP is designed to address part of the ongoing California water crisis by making tertiary-treated recycled wastewater available to the drought-impacted west side of the valley south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Under the proposed program, up to 59,000 acre-feet (72.8 million m 3 ) per year of recycled water produced by the cities of Turlock and Modesto would be delivered via the Delta- Mendota Canal. Recycled water would be conveyed from Modesto and Turlock through pipelines from their wastewater treatment facilities, crossing the San Joaquin River, and ending at the Delta- Mendota Canal. The recycled water would then be conveyed directly to Del Puerto Water District customers or to the San Luis Reservoir for storage during low water-demand periods mOnTEREy COST/bEnEfiT STuDy inCluDES 'SOCial ROi' The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPWMD) is soliciting statements of qualifications by 1 May 2014 from qualified organizations to perform triple bottom line cost-benefit analysis related to the proposed Pure Water Monterey Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) Project. The overall objective is to compare the cost-benefit of the GWR project against increasing the size of the California American Water desalination project from 6.4 to 9.6 MGD (24,000 to 36,000 m 3 /d). The primary objective of the GWR Project is to replenish the Seaside Basin aquifer by producing 3,500 acre-feet per year (4.3 million m 3 /y) of high quality water. The triple bottom line requirement means that the water supply solution needs to be evaluated in terms of Social Return On Investment benefits that extend beyond simply cost to the ratepayer, to include other factors that affect environmental and social policy goals, regionally and statewide. mEmSyS anD hORizOn COmbinE On zlD A pilot trial is due to start in May 2014 of a method to reduce the costs of zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology at a coal to chemical project in northern China. An agreement has been signed between memsys ® , membrane distillation (MD) specialist from Germany/Singapore, and Horizon Environmental Technology Ltd, a leading water and wastewater technology company in China. The two companies will use memsys' MD technology to further concentrate the wastewater or brine solution from upstream unit processes so that the capital investment and operating cost of the downstream ZLD technology can be significantly reduced. l in bRiEf ____ For more details, visit www.desalination.biz __ Cal am aPPliES fOR uS$ 3 milliOn SlanT-wEll gRanT California American Water is seeking a US$ 1 million grant from the California Department of Water Resources to help fund the installation of a US$ 3 million slant test well, which is needed for its proposed Monterey desalination project. The company is applying for the maximum amount the grant program allows under Proposition 50 grants for a pilot or test project that advance desalination as part of California's water supply. mD PlanT uSing gEnERaTOR hEaT STaRTS in malDivES The world's first desalination unit using waste heat from a power generator with membrane distillation (MD) has started up on Guhli island in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. The 10 m 3 /d system was developed by the local power company STELCO in a joint venture with the UK's Aquiva Foundation. The MD plant taps into the cooling cycle of local diesel generators to retrieve the thermal heat that is otherwise wasted into the air. SOquEl CREEk TO ExaminE waTER-REuSE OPTiOnS Soquel Creek Water District in California, whose proposed desalination project with City of Santa Cruz was put on hold last year when Santa Cruz backed out, is re-evaluating water-reuse projects and their feasibility. With state regulations changing on the use and development of recycled water, the distict's board held a meeting on 4 February 2014 to learn more about recycled water options. Among the presenters at the meeting were Dave Smith, managing director of WateReuse California and Todd Reynolds of Kennedy/Jenks.

• Cover