Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/513849
PROJECTS | 18 | Desalination & Water Reuse | May-June 2015 rather than allowing all discharge to flow back into Town Creek, where the city currently pumps its effluent, before pumping it back to the lake. The reasoning for this according to Weatherford's director of utilities, James Hotopp, "has to do with water rights". The cost of each project is fairly similar said Gooch with Town Creek totaling US$ 11.7 million, and the wastewater treatment plant totaling US$ 12.4 million. The reason construction on the plant would cost more is because additional storage space would be needed. The Freese and Nichols study will enforce phosphorus limits at either discharge point. Originally the city believed the creek discharge would not be subject to this. TExaS COunTy baCkS dESalinaTiOn gRanT aPPliCaTiOn Commissioners in Hays County, Texas have backed a grant application that would fund a central Texas group's proposed study into the feasibility of building a desalination plant to supply water to parts of Hays and Travis counties. The commissioners approved unanimously a resolution in support of the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District's efforts to secure the grant from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). Brian Smith, a hydrogeologist with the district, said much of the potable Edwards Aquifer water in the western portions of the two counties is separated from non-potable, heavily saline water in the two counties' eastern areas. Smith said the engineering challenges were "taken care of " so the chief concern was the cost. The estimated total project cost is about US$ 560,000, Smith said. If approved by the TWDB, the grant would cover US$ 275,000 of the project, and the district would cover the remainder. FiRST STagE OF gaza dESalinaTiOn PROJECT COmPlETEd The European Union (EU) and UNICEF have marked the completion of the first component of a 10 million (US$ 11.2 million) desalination plant which will provide over 75,000 Palestinians with drinking water in Gaza. The construction of the desalination plant on land adjacent to the sea north of Khan Yunis, and the procurement of water- treatment equipment will be completed in the coming months. The plant is expected to start operating by the end of the year. The first component – an 18km - long pip eline – has been completed. It will transfer 6,000 m³ of desalinated seawater from the planned plant to at least 35,000 Palestinians living in Khan Yunis, and 40,000 in Rafah, southern Gaza. The EU and UNICEF launched the construction phase of the four-stage project in March 2014. The two organizations lead the project in partnership with the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and Gaza's Coastal Municipalities Water Utilities. "The needs in Gaza for fresh water are huge. Nearly 95% of water in Gaza is considered unfit for human consumption," said EU representative, John Gatt-Rutter. Seawater desalination is one of the strategic options chosen by the PWA to help provide 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza with clean water. A 2011 study concluded that desalination of seawater was essential to curb over-extraction of groundwater from the coastal aquifer. A 2012 United Nations' report warned that over-extraction could render Gaza's sole aquifer unusable by 2016. dElayEd TORREviEJa PlanT PayS PEnalTy A close-to-complete desalination plant at Torrevieja, Spain has lost 55 million (US$ 60 million) in funding because it has failed to meet operational deadlines according to recent reports. A spokesperson for Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment agency, Spain's Aguas de las Cuencas Mediterráneas (Acuamed), said: "circumstances surrounding the development" prevented it from meeting the deadlines for the 2002-2006 operational programme and insisted the delay was not their doing. Acuamed has requested a reallocation of the funding in the 2007-2013 programme, which is currently "pending a decision by the European Commission". The threat to the funding could result in the cost falling to Acuamed, and subsequently being passed on to the end users. The 220,000 m³/d plant was scheduled originally to come on stream in 2009. After years of court cases water is still not being sent to the intended users, largely in the Murcia region. Last year the Constitutional Court overturned a 2007 agreement to halt construction after a conflict of jurisdiction between central and Valencia courts. Of 300 million (US$ 328 million) invested by Acuamed, 55 million (US$ 60 million) was from European funding. Water is being processed at the plant, and it is on schedule to produce just 80 million m³/d, expandable to 120 million m³/d. China bEginS COnSTRuCTiOn OF uS$ 1.1billiOn dESalinaTiOn PlanT China has started building a CNY 7 billion (US$#1.1 billion) desalination project – part of its bid to quadruple its desalination capacity by 2020. The desalination plant is being built and will be operated by Aqualyng China – a venture between Norway's Aqualyng and Hong Kong-based Beijing Enterprises Water Group. According to a report by Bloomberg, work has started on the shores of Bohai Bay near the city of Tangshan to build the plant to help to meet freshwater demands in the nation's capital Beijing. When operational in 2019, the Bohai Bay plant will treat seawater at 120,000 tonnes a day. China plans to produce treated water at more than 4,000 Ml/d under the government's Special Plan for Seawater Utilization. The country's rainfall has diminished leading to declining water resources with some 400 of the 668 largest cities in the country experiencing water scarcity. A further CNY#10 billion (IE US$1.36 billion) will be invested in laying the Beijing pipeline. RWl unvEilS dESalinaTiOn FiRST in EgyPT RWL Water and Orascom Construction (OC) have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Egyptian government to proceed with a feasibility study for building, financing and operating the first large desalination plant in Egypt for the supply of potable water. The build-own-transfer project will include the development of an 80 Ml/d plant with a possibility to increase its capacity in the future. The Egyptian government and the RWL Water/OC consortium intend to enter into a water supply agreement after finalization of the study. RWL Water is the leading partner in the consortium.