Wastewater is a Terrible Thing to........Waste

This article in Scientific American points out the considerable energy potential in the "biosolids" content of wastewater. Methane from anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge can be used directly as a fuel and can power fuel cells. Biosolids themselves can also be used as a supplemental fuel in processes such as cement kilns.

But we like to point out that there is also a lot of "embedded energy" in the treated wastewater. Here in southern California and in many other areas of the county, our water is pumped from hundreds of miles away, treated, used once and then pumped out into the ocean. Shouldn't we make use of that embedded energy AND increase our water independence AND reduce pollution AND save money (compared to building seawater desalination facilities) by adding just a little more treatment and reusing that valuable wastewater?

Surfrider San Diego is committed to fighting bad desalination projects like Poseidon

Recently the Surfrider Foundation removed ourselves from the State Lands Commission lawsuit regarding the Carlsbad desalination plant but we remain committed to the desalination campaign and feel our efforts can be better utilized elsewhere. Removing ourselves from the lawsuit is in no way an abandonment of the campaign or our partnership with San Diego Coastkeeper. We are simply reallocating resources to where they can do the most good. We, along with Coastkeeper are planning to divide the work on this important issue so we can be most effective in fighting against this desalination plant. Surfrider Foundation will continue advocating to improve marine life protection and fighting harmful desalination projects along the California coastline.

Instead of desalination, Surfrider advocates conservation efforts and recycling water to drinking standards. These two important steps should be taken before we go down the path to building desalination factories that cost the taxpayer more money, and contribute to climate change.

Energy and Water Connection? VERY NICE!!

Our leaders are making the connection in legislation - it takes energy to move water, and it might be a good idea to consider that in how our federal policy directs water conveyance. See press release below and links.



Energy-water use connection sought

Friday, March 13, 2009

WASHINGTON — The US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on March 10 held a hearing on a recently introduced bill that aims to integrate the relationship between energy and water use into national policy decisions.

The bill, known as the Energy and Water Integration Act of 2009, or S 531, was introduced March 5 by Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, and Lisa Murkowski, R-AK. S 531 would direct the US Department of Energy to develop a framework for the energy-water use study. The Energy Department would be required to consult with the US Department of the Interior and the US Environmental Protection Agency, and then to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences under which the Academy analyzes the impact of energy development and production on US water resources.

Dr. Peter Gleick, president of the Oakland, CA-based think tank Pacific Institute, on March 10 testified before the committee in support of the bill. According to a March 10 Pacific Institute press release, Gleick explained how water and energy are linked, how limits to the availability of both resources are beginning to affect one another, and how recognizing this link when developing national energy and water policies can lead to many substantial economic and environmental benefits.

To access the Pacific Institute press release, click here.

To access information about the bill, click here or here.

For related information, click here.

New Desalination Company Claims Better Methods

Oasys Water, a Massachusetts based desalination start-up company, has recently received $10 million in funding. By using what they called "Engineered Osmosis", rather than reverse osmosis, their method of desalination claims to reduce electricity and fuel costs by more than 90%. In effect, while reverse osmosis produces water at a cost of about $0.68 to $0.90 per cubic meter, Oasys estimates that engineered osmosis will cost about $0.37 to $0.44 per cubic meter.

For the Oasys Press Release Click Here.

Calculating your "Water Footprint" - Does conserving mean more beer and less clothing?

A journalist at the Wall Street Journal, Alexandra Alter, recently wrote an article titled "Yet Another 'Footprint' to Worry About: Water". Companies concerned about water rationing (and who have been burned by it in the past) are now tracking water use patterns to find more efficient ways of using this resource vital to life, manufacturing and production, and so can you! (see below)

In the article, Alex writes "It takes roughly 20 gallons of water to make a pint of beer, as much as 132 gallons of water to make a 2-liter bottle of soda, and about 500 gallons, including water used to grow, dye and process the cotton, to make a pair of Levi's stonewashed jeans. Though much of that water is replenished through natural cycles, a handful of companies have started tracking such "water footprints" as a growing threat of fresh-water shortages looms. Some are measuring not just the water used to make beverages and cool factories, but also the gallons used to grow ingredients such as cotton, sugar, wheat, tea and tomatoes. The drive, modeled partly on carbon footprinting, a widely used measurement of carbon-dioxide emissions, comes as groundwater reserves are being depleted and polluted at unsustainable rates in many regions."

I guess it reasons to follow that if we are serious about conservation, we ought to drink more beer and wear fewer clothes.

Click Here to read the whole article and view interactive graphics.
Water Footprint Calculator for your own customized water footprint!

And finally, a novel way to conserve water.

Desalination Timetable Delayed (hopefully permanently)

Poseidon Resources was dealt a blow in their quest to build a desalination plant in Carlsbad today.

Under their scheme, to produce 1 acre foot of drinking water, 5 acre feet of sea water must be pulled directly from the ocean. That same 1 acre foot of sea water requires approximately 4700 kilowatt hours of electricity to remove the brine and other pollutants.

In contrast, by recycling wastewater to drinking water quality the same 1 acre foot of drinking water can be rendered using only 1.17 acre feet of wastewater, and would only require 2200 kilowatt hours of electricity. I believe the old adage "more bang for your buck" applies here.

Doing the math, it is far more economical to render wastewater into drinking water than render sea water into drinking water. Yet the battle for common sense rages on. See the article below for an update.

Carlsbad Desalination Plant Timetable Delayed
Poseidon's project output is 10% of region's daily water needs
By GENE CUBBISON

While drought-stricken San Diegans brace for water rationing, a desalination project that could meet 10 percent of the region's water needs has been delayed for two more months. While drought-stricken San Diegans brace for water rationing, a desalination project that could meet 10 percent of the region's water needs has been delayed...
The $300 million proposal by Poseidon Resources Corp. needs approval from one more state regulatory agency, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, to break ground on the project later this year, working toward a completion date in 2011.
"Every regulatory agency that has reviewed this project has determined that it's environmentally benign," said Scott Maloni, a Poseidon vice president. "Let's build this project. We need the water."

But the board voted unanimously Wednesday to withhold final permits at least until April, to allow the agency's staff and Poseidon to work out what Poseidon officials called "minor issues" relating to environmental concerns that already have prompted lawsuits against Poseidon and the state's Lands and Coastal Commissions, which have granted approvals.

Click Here for the full article from MSNBC.com

Once Through Cooling - Killing For Water??

Coastal power plants could face tougher rules by Jane Kay, San Francisco Chronicle Environment Writer on Wednesday, January 14, 2009:

San Francisco's Mirant Corp. power plant, under fire from the city attorney and environmental groups, is one of 19 power plants in California that could face tougher regulation under the Obama administration for killing billions of fish.

For now, state water regulators are allowing the Mirant plant in the city's Dogpatch neighborhood and the other power plants in California, including the huge Diablo Canyon Power Plant, to continue using a cooling system that sucks and grinds fish, flattens them on screens or boils them in hot water.

The coastal power plants withdraw cold water and discharge hot water at a rate of about 16.7 billion gallons per day, according to reports. The Mirant Potrero plant is blamed for killing hundreds of millions of fish larvae, including goby, northern anchovy, Pacific herring, California halibut and rockfishes....

California regulators could require the electric power plants to upgrade to fish-safe systems now under existing laws, environmental lawyers say, but instead are using legal questions over a 2004 U.S. EPA regulation to delay replacing the World War II-era technology, known as once-through cooling systems.

Two state agencies have objected to extending permits to operate the old systems, citing studies showing that 88 billion organisms are killed a year. Several of the state's power plants are moving ahead with projects to replace old systems - one on Humboldt Bay and others in Southern California. The technology at new power plants uses towers to cool boiling water and does not require cold seawater.

CLICK HERE for the full story from www.sfgate.com