Thread: Carlsbad CA. desalination plant gets final OK

Carlsbad desalination plant gets final OK

By Michael Burge
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 12:01 a.m.

After an 11-year effort, the developer of an ocean-water desalination plant received its final permit and will prepare its Carlsbad site for construction next week, although several challenges remain before it can pump out 50 million gallons a day of drinking water.

The California Coastal Commission yesterday permitted Poseidon Resources to build the plant, the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis, who championed the project as mayor and now as chairman of the San Diego County Water Authority board, called the moment historic.

“Once the plant is built and people see they can get water from desalting (ocean water), you'll see more of these built on the California coast,â€

Poseidon also needs approval from the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for a subsidy of $250 per acre-foot of desalinated water. That subsidy makes desalination cost-competitive with other new sources.

Western-Water.com-Online Water Calculator - Convert Gallons to ...
One acre-foot is the volume of water sufficient to cover an acre of land to a depth of 1 foot (43560 cubic feet, approximately 325,851 U.S. gallons, ...

www.western-water.com/Acre-Foot_formula.htm