Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/724419
6 The Quarterly September 2016 Water. desalination + reuse What happened? Who covered it? Why does it matter? Mexico Rosarito Beach mega plant winners NuWater and Consolidated Water subsidiary NSC Agua clinch the deal Saudi Arabia Bold economic reforms Country unveils sweeping changes to be completed by 2020 Singapore Jurong Island gets green light Plans for a fi h desalination plant confirmed during Singapore International Water Week USA Huntington Beach Desalination Plant Green light sought for proposed water intake technology in 2017 before pursuing further permissions The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the state government of Baja California awarded a contract to build and operate a mega-size desalination facility in the coastal city of Rosarito Beach, Mexico, to Aguas de Rosarito, a special purpose company owned by Consolidated Water subsidiary NSC Agua, and NuWater of Singapore. The two-phase project will see a 50 million gallon per day (190,000 m3/d) plant completed within three years from commencing construction, and a doubling of that capacity by 2024. Saudi's leaders unveiled the National Transformation Plan (NTP), an ambitious programme of economic reforms designed to modernise the economy. The Financial Times reported that the strategy includes 346 separate targets for ministries and governmental bodies across a $72 billion plan. Bloomberg reported that water and electricity subsidies will be cut by 200 billion riyals ($53 billion), with water tariffs rising to cover 100 per cent of costs, versus 30 per cent now. The Straits Times reported that Singapore will build a new desalination plant, on Jurong Island, taking the state's total number of desalination facilities to five by 2020. The plant will produce 30 million gallons per day (136,000 m3/d) of water, helping to increase the supply of desalinated and recycled water from 55 per cent to 85 per cent of demand by 2060. The Los Angeles Times reported that Poseidon Water will streamline the approvals process for the proposed Hun- tington Beach desalination plant by asking Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board to determine whether its plans comply with California's new rules on desalination, before requesting a coastal development per- mit. The original plan had been to do it the other way around. The LA Times estimated the cost of the plant at $1 billion. When complete, Rosarito Beach will be one of the largest desalination plants in the Western hemisphere, supplying potable water to populations in northern Mexico, and likely also across the border into southern California, US. Speaking at the NTP's launch, minister of environment, water, and agriculture, Abdul Rahman Al-Fadli, confirmed plans to privatise the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), first mooted in January 2015. The vision is to increase the amount of desalinated water produced by private operators from 16 to 52 per cent, to raise capacity from 5.1 to 7.3 billion m3/d, and to extend the duration of strategic water storage from 0.4 to 3 days, by 2020. Singapore's current demand for water is 430 million gallons a day (2 million m3/d), a rate expected to double, with industrial use rising to 70 per cent of total consumption, by 2060. Two new desalination plants are due to come on stream in 2017 and 2019, but beyond that additional supplies will still be needed. California brought in new rules in January 2016 that require desalina- tion projects to demonstrate the need for water, to identify appropriate sites, and to minimise harm to marine life. Critics of the Huntington Beach project have focused on its proposed water intake technology, which they believe could harm ocean life. Poseidon will submit plans to the Regional Board based on a water intake pipe with a 1 mil- limetre thick screen, and through-screen velocity of less than 0.5 feet per second. The new rules had required sub-surface (below the sand) intake. The Quarterly "We'd like to acknowledge the governor of Baja California and his staff." Rick McTaggart, CEO Consolidated Water