Water. desalination + reuse

PROJECTS | 30 | Desalination & Water Reuse | August-September 2014 PROJECTPROGRESS FRACK DESALINATION "HAS SO MANY BENEFICIAL USES" Australian renewable energy firm AGL plans to install a 2 Ml/d desalination plant to treat water produced during hydraulic fracturing (fracking) at its Gloucester coal-seam gas project. AGL's manager of hydrogeology, John Ross, said the desalinated water could have "so many beneficial uses. "Our draft strategy proposes that the freshwater can be used for irrigation, however, we are looking at ways to make the water available to third parties in the local area." Options under consideration, he said, included aquaculture, irrigating green areas in Gloucester and forestry projects. Residual salt could be crystallised and disposed of at a licensed facility, he said but added, the company was still exploring options for its disposal. AGL has conditional approval to establish 110 coal-seam gas wells in the region as part of its Gloucester Gas Project. TExAS INLAND DESALINATION PLANT wILL BE USA'S BIggEST San Antonio Water System (SAWS) is constructing what will become the largest inland desalination plant in the USA. The plant will desalinate groundwater from the Wilcox Aquifer in southern Bexar County, Texas. "There are 'oceans' of brackish water under our feet unaffected by temporary weather conditions, so this is a supply that will be there for us even in drought," said SAWS president and chief executive officer Robert R Puente. The 60 Ml/d reverse osmosis plant is scheduled to open in 2016 at a cost of US$ 192.7 million. Additions to the plant are scheduled for 2021 and 2026 taking its output to 150 Ml/d and the final cost to US$ 411 million. As part of the Texas State Water Plan, SAWS has accessed more than US$ 100 million in low-interest loans from the Texas Water Development Board to help fund the plant's construction. According to SAWS manager of desalination engineering, Esther Harrah, the Bexar desalination facility will be located alongside an existing aquifer storage and recovery facility. The storage process involves injecting desalinated water into a fresh water aquifer to be pumped out when it is needed. The Bexar facility will include 13 production wells that use the Wilcox Aquifer and a deep well injection for disposal of the concentrate. A reverse osmosis water treatment facility will be constructed with 16 km of pipeline. Beyond developing a new source of water, SAWS is making the most of this desalination project. It will also house a pilot research and test facility used by the US Bureau of Reclamation and the University of Texas, San Antonio. Harrah hopes that other universities will be interested in teaming up with Texas to conduct research. In addition, the public will be able to tour the plant and see the entire desalination process. PURE AqUA BUILDS SOLAR-POwERED DESALINATION FOR CAMEROON US-based Pure Aqua has designed and manufactured six solar- powered reverse osmosis water purifiers for river water in the African state of Cameroon. The firm said that each of the purifiers was electrically self- sustained by individual solar panels and could each produce 58,000 litres of potable water a day. Cameroon's capital city Yaounde's three million-plus inhabitants alone need a daily water supply of over 300 Ml. The Nyong River in Yaounde and Lake Chad are primary sources of water for the city but often the water supply is contaminated. And several towns and villages in Cameroon do not have access to clean drinking water. NEw DESALINATION PLANT wILL MEET SHARJAH'S DEMAND A seawater desalination plant with a capacity of 100 Ml/d has opened at Al Hamriya at a total cost of Dh 446 million (US$ 120 million). A US$ 38 million project for the construction of a deepsea water intake and pump house to feed the new plant has also been completed. The site includes a 2,500 MW power station. Chairman of Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) Dr Rashid Obaid Jumaa Al Leem, said the new plant was one of a number of strategic projects initiated by Sewa to achieve two main targets: to meet the water requirements of the industrial expansions by Hamriyah Free Zone Authority and Emirates Industrial City; and to enable Sewa to provide water to all residents of Sharjah. Al Leem said the Hamriya power and water desalination plant was designed to meet the current demand and the increasing future requirements for electrcity and water in Sharjah city and the Hamriyah area. gRENADA BUILDS SOLAR-POwERED PAIR OF DESALINATION PLANTS Grenada is constructing solar power arrays to generate electricity for a pair of planned reverse osmosis desalination plants on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique. The US$ 2.1 million project is being funded by the UK's Department For International Development and the European Union Global Alliance for Climate Change programme. Grenada Electricity Services and Grenada's National Water and Sewage Authority are assisting with the project. The Caricom Climate Change Centre is also supporting the projects. Environmental economist with Caricom, Mark Bynoe, who is overseeing the project said both plants should be up and running by September. In the short term, water distribution will be focused on the town of Hillsborough in Carriacou, he said. In a statement, the government said "significant" progress was being made on the plants. Carriacou's plant will be set up on the location of a former desalination plant in Seaview. Petite Martnique and Carriacou currently depend on the harvesting of rainwater to meet their water needs.

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