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UNLV scientist: Use war ships to wring salt out of sea water; Using such ships could free up more Lake Mead water for Las Vegas

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 5, 2008 at 6:04 am

From the Las Vegas Sun:

As drought keeps lowering Lake Mead, UNLV geoscientist David Kreamer wondered how Las Vegas could find other sources of drinking water. And his ideas led him out to sea.

During a scientific meeting in Houston, Texas, Kreamer plans to reveal today how to wring the salt out of sea water by an unlikely means — mobilizing warships now in mothballs. Kreamer said that his idea is not a new one. U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, for example, have had to desalinate ocean water to create fresh water for keeping large crews hydrated while at sea for six months or more. Instead of leaving such ships in dry dock or cluttering working harbors with mothballed vessels, they are ideal desalinization platforms, Kreamer said,

The U.S. Defense Department alone has a fairly large mothballed fleet, including inactive Navy vessels and the U.S. Merchant Marine reserve fleet. Kreamer’s study examines recycling decommissioned Navy ships, especially old aircraft carriers, to become floating desalinization plants.

Read more from the Las Vegas Sun by clicking here.

October 5, 2008 · Filed Under Desalination, Las Vegas

Comments

One Response to “UNLV scientist: Use war ships to wring salt out of sea water; Using such ships could free up more Lake Mead water for Las Vegas”

Ray Walker on October 5th, 2008 1:41 pm

UNLV geoscientist David Kreamer evidently did not provide any numbers regarding the amount of fresh water that could be produced from mobilizing warships now in mothballs.

A proposal has been made to the Bureau of Reclamation to store up to a million acre feet (325,900,000,000 gallons) of non-tributary fresh water each year in the available “air space” in Lake Mead. When full, Lake Mead produces 2000 megawatts of renewable energy each year.

The offer includes a provision for paying the increase in evaporation losses due to the increase in surface area and for absolute measuring of the non-tributary new water into the Colorado River system.

For 5 years, the Bureau, Nevada and the Southern Nevada Water Authority have been offered full confidential knowledge of the Source which can be developed that is environmentally acceptable and without damage to the water rights of anyone, anywhere.

Internationally, maybe an agreement could be reached for 80,000 acre feet of the non-tributary water stored in Lake Mead to be released each year for delivery to the All American Canal to recharge the ground water supply for Mexicali, Mexico.

The ground water supply for Mexicali will soon cease due to the concrete lining of the All American Canal that delivers water to the San Diego area. Just one of many possiblities….

Ray Walker (Retired Water Rights Analyst) waterrdw@yahoo.com

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