Desal Plant Hits 40B Gallon Mark

Three years and 40 billion gallons later the Carlsbad Claude “Bud” Lewis Desalination plant is humming along. The facility is touted as the largest and most technologically advanced in the Western Hemisphere and on Dec. 13, VIPs and various stakeholders gathered in celebration of the plant supplying about 10 percent of drinking water to San Diego County. The desalination plant opened three years ago to much fanfare, and some criticism, as one of the crown jewels for Poseidon Water, which owns the facility. It pumps in about 50 million gallons of water per day and is a source for protection against severe drought.