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A new desalination method for California water woes?

Posted by: Maven on February 27, 2010 at 8:20 am

desal graphicFrom the LA Times Greenspace blog:

“The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s rationing program has reduced the city’s water use to an 18-year low. But Los Angeles’ long-term water challenges are well-documented. Why can’t the city take advantage of the sea to solve its water shortage? Because conventional approaches to desalination, the removal of salt from water, are too energy-intensive, and therefore too expensive, for widespread use. As a result, the total capacity of all of California’s desalination plants is little more than a 10th of Los Angeles’ annual water consumption.

A desalination plant that would provide water for 100,000 homes is moving forward in San Diego.
Traditional desalination occurs through one of two processes. The first is distillation, during which water is heated and evaporated before the resulting vapor is condensed to form fresh water. The second and more common method is reverse osmosis, during which water is forced through a membrane through which salt cannot pass.

A Canadian startup, Saltworks Technologies, is promoting a new, innovative process that it claims will reduce desalination electricity costs by up to 80%. The key to understanding Saltworks’ thermo-ionic desalination process is appreciating the chemical nature of salt, which is composed of positively charged sodium and negatively charged chlorine ions. … “


Continue reading this article at the LA Times Greenspace blog by clicking here.

February 27, 2010 · Filed Under Desalination

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