Scuba Diving club,
Southern California
Sea Sabres
Tampa Start US’s
Largest Desalinization Unit
APOLLO BEACH, Florida (AP)
-- The Tampa Bay area's burgeoning population of nearly 2 million people is
tapping a new source for its drinking water -- salty Tampa Bay itself.
The
nation's first sea water desalination plant built to serve as a primary source
of drinking water is providing water to Tampa, St. Petersburg, New Port Richey
and surrounding cities.
The
initial output is between 8 million to 12 million gallons a day, but the plant
is expected to reach full capacity by mid-April, generating 25 million gallons
a day. That's 10 percent of the area's drinking water.
"We
all like to wash our dishes and take long hot showers. As long as we're going
to do that we have to find other sources of potable water," said Mark
Luther, associate professor of marine science at the University of South
Florida.
The
plant has become operational despite concerns from some area residents that it
will increase salinity in Tampa Bay and reduce oxygen in the water.
The
basic process of desalination isn't new. Salt water is pumped through filters
under high pressure, squeezing out minerals. Israel and Kuwait have relied on
desalination for decades, as have military vessels and cruise ships.
Worldwide,
13,600 desalination plants produce 6.8 billion gallons of water daily.
The
Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant, run by Tampa Bay Water, is expected to
convert sea water efficiently enough to be able to sell it for about $2 per
1,000 gallons, far below the industry standard. The cost of regular groundwater
sources is about $1 per 1,000 gallons, said Ken Herd, project manager for Tampa
Bay Water.
It
cost $110 million to build the plant and the 14-mile pipe to transport the
water. The Southwest Florida Water Management District gave Tampa Bay Water $85
million to help defray the costs. In addition, the plant will use the 44
million gallons a day used by Tampa Electric's Big Bend Power Station, further
lowering costs.
The
44 million gallons of sea water undergoes reverse osmosis, where it is pushed
through a series of filters before passing through membranes, leaving 25
millions of gallons of fresh water and 19 million gallons of brine.
The
pure water is treated with lime and chlorine to ensure proper alkalinity, Herd
said.
The
highly salty byproduct will flow into the Big Bend power plant's cooling water
canal, where it will be diluted in the 1.4 billion gallons the canal carries
each day.
It
is this byproduct that has caused the most concern for some area residents,
although Luther led a study in 2000 that found the briny waste would not cause
any long-term increases in salinity.
Apollo
Beach residents formed Save Our Bays, Air and Canals and fought to have the
permits to the plant denied, and eventually sued the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection to contest the state permit for the plant. It lost
that bid, but group attorney Ralf Brookes said they will monitor the area for
any environmental problems.
Other
environmental groups, including the Audubon Society and Sierra Club, have said
they have not seen any data that shows the fears are founded, and are waiting
to see the results of a $1 million monitoring program. Herd said that it's too
early to see any changes in the bay, since the initial output just began in
mid-March.
Independent
studies showed that the plant alone would have little affect on the salinity of
the water "because it's just such a drop in the bucket when you compare it
to the total quantity of water in the bay," said Lynn McGarvey, with the
Sierra Club Tampa Bay Group.
However,
McGarvey did say she would become concerned about salinity if more desalination
plants went up in the area.
The
state permit requires that the plant conduct several types of monitoring on a
daily, weekly and quarterly basis. Also, state officials will do inspections at
least once a year. The plant's permit is good for five years, but can be
revoked earlier.
Key
West has had a desalination plant for years, and one was built in Santa
Barbara, California, in 1992. Both are much smaller, and are used only for
emergency supplies.
In
December, the prime minister of Singapore came to study the plant on the edge
of Tampa Bay. Communities from Mexico, Iceland, Texas, California and Florida's
east coast also have shown interest.
"People
are starting to really understand the value of water and the importance of
having a drought-proof supply that you can rely on year round under any weather
condition to deliver drinking water for their area," Herd said. "That
problem is experienced around the world."
Heartland Institute’s
Opinions
California
looking at Desalinization
Posted April 8, 2003
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