"H2O Woes"-Seeing Seawater As A Solution
Tuesday, October 31, 2006SUSIE GHARIB: The largest supplies of water on the Earth's surface are its oceans and seas. Unfortunately, that water is too salty to drink. But that is changing, due to a technology called desalination, which removes the salt. As we continue our series tonight, "H2O Woes," Jeff Yastine reports some see desalination as the solution to the world's water problems. But others aren't so sure.
JEFF YASTINE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: This is a busy time for the operators of this desalination plant, the largest ever built in the United States. Workers are readying the start of operations. On one end, the plant will draw in the salty, brackish water of nearby Tampa Bay; on the other, it will pump out up to 25 million gallons of fresh, drinkable water every day. In between is the technology which makes it happen, where the salt is filtered from the water through tightly wound high-tech membranes, a process called reverse osmosis.
You are literally forcing water at high pressure through these blue tubes over here?
KEN HERD, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS & FACILITIES, TAMPA BAY WATER: Yes. The workers behind us are loading the reverse osmosis elements. This is the core process that removes the salt from the water. In this plant we have over 10,000 of these reverse osmosis elements. Each one of these blue tubes has eight of these elements that are just stacked end-to-end. Once they are all in, these elements can produce very high quality drinking water.
YASTINE: Worldwide, there are more than 7,000 desalination plants. More than half are in the Middle East, with others scattered along the North African coast, Spain, and other arid regions. The U.S. is also home to more than 1,500 desalination plants. Most are located in Florida, California, and Texas. But the process has long been considered too expensive for use elsewhere.
But supporters say those economics are changing with advances in desalination technology, and also the rising costs of and demands on natural water supplies.
NEIL CALLAHAN, VICE PRESIDENT, UTILITY SERVICES PRACTICE, RW BECK: Five years ago, before the thought of desal. at less than $2 per thousand gallons existed in the marketplace, it was just dismissed out of hand. Now every area that has any stress on water resources is considering what its options are for desal., and at what time in the future they may need desal. in the mix to meet its water resource needs.
YASTINE: But others say there are options besides desalination, even in western areas, where scarcity and demand make water an expensive commodity.
PETER GLEICK, CO-FOUNDER & PRES., PACIFIC INSTITUTE: One of the things cities in the West are doing, instead of looking at desalination, they are looking at paying farmers to use water more efficiently, so that they can use some of the water that is currently committed to agricultural uses. Water conservation and efficiency improvements are still far more cost- effective than desalination in the western United States. So again I think in the long run we may see more and more desalination, but I think it is going to be a while it still -- before it provides any large-scale use.
YASTINE: It hasn't helped that the largest desalination plant in the U.S., the one in Tampa Bay, has suffered from a variety of technical problems since it opened in 2003. The facility is now undergoing an extensive rebuild and redesign, adding another $29 million to the project's original $140 million price tag.
Why build a desalination plant? Well, like many cities, water managers here are looking for more water choices. Tampa Bay Water already gets supplies from two rivers, one canal, and a set of wells, and a desalination plant provides them one more choice for filling the region's water needs.
Especially, managers say, during times of drought.
HERD: Water suppliers need supply resource options. It is just like an investor needs financial diversity. We need to have multiple options so that we don't rely on any one individual source to meet our water supply needs. We have learned from experience that we definitely don't want to put all of our eggs in one basket.
YASTINE: And finally, render untrue "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," which states, "water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink."
Jeff Yastine, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Tampa, Florida.
