Section 10D

esalination

Desalination SECTION TEN

West Basin Municipal Water District | Urban Water Management Plan | 2010 10-1

SECTION 10 Desalination

West Basin’s experience in recycled water treatment includes substantial knowledge on methods used for the removal of salt from water supplies. This experience has proved use-ful to West Basin in pursuing both groundwater and ocean-water desalination programs to further develop local water supplies. Since 1993, West Basin has operated the C. Marvin Brewer Desalter Facility to treat brackish groundwater that remains on the inland side of the West Coast Seawater Barrier. In 2001 West Basin also began a multi-phase program to explore the systematic development of a full scale ocean-water desalination facility. This multi-phase approach has been based on deliberate scientific research and testing, beginning with a small pilot facility to test the basic treatment technology, and followed by West Basin’s recently dedicated Ocean-Water Desalination Demonstration Facility and Water Education Center in order to evaluate and demonstrate ocean protection, energy recovery and cost reduction technologies. These facilities have been developed to ensure a full scale ocean water desalination facility will be done in a cost and energy efficient manner and with a goal to protect the ocean. Research results from the Demonstration Facility will be shared throughout the water industry worldwide via the web site.

10.1 Ocean Desalting Process Desalination or desalting is the process of converting highly salty, or brackish, water into a drinkable supply. Today’s ocean-water desalting process removes salt, minerals and impu-rities from ocean-water with cutting edge membrane technologies such as ultrafiltration or microfiltration and reverse osmosis. Using these methods, raw ocean-water first passes through an ultrafiltration or microfiltration membrane which has thousands of hollow strands with pores on the walls that are 5,000 times smaller than a pinhole. The water then continues on to reverse osmosis membranes for the final purification process. Reverse osmosis is a pressure driven process whereby water passes through the molecular structure of a thin membrane that filters out salts, minerals, and impurities. Figure 10-1 shows a diagram of the typical desalting process.

Traditionally, ocean-water desalination has been considered too expensive for a large-scale project, and for many years it was cost prohibitive compared to other sources of potable water in the West Basin service area. However, due to recent advancements in membrane technologies and energy recovery systems, and the increasing cost of existing sources of water, ocean-water desalination is now a financially viable new water source that is cost competitive with other sources of drinking water.

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10.2 West Basin’s Ocean-Water Desalination Pilot Project In May 2002, West Basin initiated piloting efforts to desalinate ocean-water and evalu-ate the potential for developing a viable, new future drinking water supply for the region. This pilot project was located at the El Segundo Power Plant in the City of El Segundo and marked the first use of microfiltration pretreatment and reverse osmosis as a treatment process for ocean-water desalination. The pilot project was in operation for over seven years, and desalted approximately 20 gallons per minute (gpm) of raw ocean-water. The goal of the project was two-fold: 1) identify optimal performance conditions and 2) evaluate the water quality characteristics. The research findings are being shared among industry partners.

Figure 10-1: Desalting Process

The process combination of microfiltration pretreatment and reverse osmosis treat-ment was to evaluate whether this process was effectively treating ocean-water and so West Basin performed extensive water quality research. Tens of thousands of water quality test results indicated that the treatment approach of utilizing microfiltration pretreatment and reverse osmosis treatment provides a reliable and consistent water quality that meets all State and Federal drinking water standards. The water produced at the pilot project consisted of approximately 300 parts per million (ppm) of total dis-solved solids, lower than typical tap water in southern California. Figure 10-2 shows the microfiltration and reverse osmosis membranes used in the pilot demonstration project.

Figure 10-2: Treatment Technologies Used at West Basin’s Pilot Plant

Microfiltration UnitExample of Reverse Osmosis Units

West Basin Municipal Water District 10-3

West Basin’s ocean-water desalination pilot project was designed to be a regional and national asset, and it was an open, collaborative effort that has benefited the entire water industry. To fund the $7 million combined cost of the pilot project, West Basin partnered with major agencies within and related to the water industry, including the American Water Works Association Research Foundation, California Avocado Commission, City of Tampa Bay, DWR, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Long Beach Water Department, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, MWD, National Water Research Institute, San Diego County Water Authority, South Florida Water Management District, and United States Bureau of Reclamation.

10.3 Ocean-Water Desalination Demonstration Facility ProjectsFollowing the pilot project, West Basin’s next objective was to evaluate several criti-cal components of the ocean-water desalination process through a small full-scale desalination demonstration project. In early 2009, West Basin received all necessary permits to proceed with the construction of the West Basin Ocean-Water Desalination Demonstration Facility and Water Education Center. West Basin used the data acquired from the pilot project in the planning and development of the demonstration facil-ity that is co-located at the SEA Lab Marine Educational Facility in Redondo Beach, California.

The Demonstration Facility draws in 500,000 gallons of seawater a day to perform various research and testing activities. Of the total intake volume, 100,000 gal/day is treated to produce 50,000 gal/day of drinking water (although the product water meets all drinking water standards, by permit the District is required to re-combine the water and return it to the ocean). This demonstration will develop a basis of design for a future full-scale desalination plant by accomplishing the following goals:

• Evaluating environmentally safe intake and concentrate discharge technologies and impacts

• Optimizing operation and maintenance procedures using full-scale elements

• Optimizing performance of energy recovery devices

• Analyzing water quality (as a continuation of the pilot plant testing)

• Providing opportunities for public and stakeholder education

Figure 10-3 shows the construction of the Demonstration Facility and Water Education Center within the facility.

10.4 Future Ocean-Water Desalination Projects10.4.1 Ocean-Water Desalination Full-Scale Facility

This Ocean-Water Desalination Demonstration Facility will test the viability of a future, full-scale Ocean-Water Desalination Facility capable of providing up to 20,000 AFY, or enough to supply 40,000 families for a year. Pending the findings from the

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demonstration facility and the environmental review process, West Basin anticipates permitting, financing, and constructing a full-scale facility by 2017. West Basin will perform a Desalination Program Master Plan in 2011 that will evaluate potential siting opportunities within West Basin’s service area that could accommodate a full-scale facility. Potable water produced by the future ocean-water desalination facility will be supplied to local and/or regional drinking water distribution systems.

Figure 10-3: West Basin’s New Desalination Demonstration Facility

Table 10-1: Opportunities for Desalinated Water

Sources of Water Yield AFY Start Date Type of Use

Ocean Water 20,000 June 2017 Potable

Construction of Demonstration Facility Water Education Center

Water Education CenterWater Education Center

West Basin Municipal Water District 10-5

10.5 Brewer Desalter Treatment FacilityWest Basin owns the C. Marvin Brewer Desalter Facility which began operating in July 1993. The Desalter was built on a site owned by California Water Service Company (CWSC) in the City of Torrance where it removes chloride from groundwater impacted by seawater intrusion in the WCGB. The Desalter was initially conceived as a five-year pilot program to see if brackish water could be economically treated to drinking water standards.

The Desalter originally used two wells to pump brackish water from a saline plume remaining within the WCGB. It treats the water using cartridge filters and reverse osmosis, and the treated water is then blended with other potable water. CWSC stores the treated water blend on-site in a 5-million gallon storage reservoir, and ultimately delivers it to consumers through their distribution system. Under the terms of an agree-ment with CWSC, West Basin reimburses CWSC to operate and maintain the Desalter.

In 2005, enhancements were made to the Desalter program that replaced the two wells with a new, more productive well. This well has the capability to pump 1,600 to 2,400 AFY of brackish groundwater to be treated at the Desalter.

Figure 10-4: Brewer Desalter Facility Equipment

Brewer Desalter RO TreatmentBrewer Extraction Well Site