The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant has served more than 100 billion gallons of water over the past seven years — a milestone reached in late October, the San Diego County Water Authority and plant owners announced Tuesday.
The plant, which produces 50 million gallons of drinking water daily, enough for 400,000 homes meeting 10% of San Diego County’s water demand, is the largest in the United States.
The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant has served more than 100 billion gallons of high-quality, locally controlled water over the past seven years – a milestone passed in late October, as California entered a fourth consecutive year of severe drought.
The plant produces an average of more than 50 million gallons of high-quality, locally controlled water every day. It’s a foundational water supply for the San Diego region that minimizes vulnerability to drought and other water supply emergencies.
Carlsbad, Calif. (Nov. 1, 2022) – The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant has served more than 100 billion gallons of high-quality, locally controlled water over the past seven years – a milestone passed in late October, as California entered a fourth consecutive year of severe drought.
The plant produces an average of more than 50 million gallons of high-quality, locally controlled water every day. It’s a foundational water supply for the San Diego region that minimizes vulnerability to drought and other water supply emergencies. The facility is the largest, most technologically advanced and energy-efficient desalination plant in the nation, and it has provided a sustainable water supply to residents and businesses in San Diego County since December 2015.
“As we mark this achievement, water from the seawater desalination plant continues to reduce our dependence on imported water sources, which has the effect of making more water available for drought-stricken communities elsewhere,” said Mel Katz, Board chair for the San Diego County Water Authority. “Since coming online in 2015, the Carlsbad Desalination Plant has met nearly 10% of the region’s water demand, and it will be a core water resource for decades to come.”
The desalination plant is a key piece of the region’s multi-decade strategy to diversify its water supply portfolio. A 30-year Water Purchase Agreement between Poseidon (Channelside) LP and the Water Authority allows for the production of up to 56,000 acre-feet of water per year, enough to meet the needs of approximately 400,000 people.
Desalination uses reverse osmosis technology to remove water molecules from seawater. Water from the ocean is forced through tightly-wrapped, semipermeable membranes under very high pressure. The membranes allow the smaller water molecules to pass through, leaving salt and other impurities to be discharged from the facility.
“Reaching 100 billion gallons demonstrates the value, effectiveness, and reliability of the desalination plant, as it produces high-quality water to help meet the needs of the region’s residents and businesses,” said Channelside President, Sachin Chawla.
More information about the desalination plant is at carlsbaddesal.com and sdcwa.org.
Earlier this month, the California Coastal Commission approved plans for a desalination plant near Doheny State Beach. In May, the commission voted against a plant in Huntington Beach. Today we look at the differences.
The greenlighted $140 million desalination plant in south Orange County’s city of Dana Point includes technology preferred by environmentalists and regulators and could provide up to 5 million gallons per day. Unlike the rejected $1.4 billion plant in Huntington Beach (that would have produced 50 million gallons per day), the Doheny Ocean Desalination project location has unique hydrogeology that allows advanced slant wells (shown in graphics on the right) to draw water from beneath the ocean floor to protect marine life.
Partners in a plan to restore 125 acres of degraded coastal wetlands as a mitigation project for the Carlsbad seawater desalination plant celebrated the start of construction Friday morning in Imperial Beach.
The Otay River Estuary Restoration Project in South San Diego Bay is a joint effort by the desalination plant operator Poseidon Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies to improve the habitat for native fish, plants and birds, particularly migratory shorebirds and other salt marsh-dependent species.
California regulators this week approved a $140 million desalination plant that could convert up to 5 million gallons of seawater each day into drinking water, as the state grapples with a persistent megadrought and plummeting water supplies.
The state’s Coastal Commission on Thursday voted 11-0 to approve the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project in Orange County in Southern California. The plant could be functioning within the next five years and supply water for thousands of people in the South Coast Water District.
A $140 million desalination plant is expected to be approved by California regulators on Thursday as the U.S. state contends with how to convert ocean water into drinking water amid the worst drought in 1,200 years.
Just five months ago, the Coastal Commission by an 11-0 vote rejected a privately owned plant that would have been 10 times the size of the proposed South Coast Water District’s Doheny Ocean Desalination Project in Orange County, just south of Los Angeles.
California American Water has shifted its plans for a desalination plant on the shores of Marina, announcing it will now seek to build the project in multiple phases.
“Phasing the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project strikes the right balance to meet the critical need for sufficient and reliable drought-proof water supply to meet demands in the near term while allowing for additional supply as it becomes needed over the next 30 years,” said Josh Stratton, a Cal Am spokesman, in an email. “In addition, as we heard from the community, phasing the project with the possibility of expanding the project to accommodate future regional water supply needs through public participation is important. This is a win-win for the region that provides an opportunity to help the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project be part of future water supply solutions for our customers and nearby communities.”
The California Coastal Commission is slated to vote Thursday on a crucial permit for a project that would draw ocean water through the sand off the coast of Dana Point, purify it and use it to help bolster water supplies for communities throughout Southern California.
A dozen desalination plants are permitted to turn ocean water into drinking water in California today, from as far south as Carlsbad to as far north as Monterey Bay. A year ago, three new desalination projects were pending in Southern California alone. But only one still remains viable: the Doheny Ocean Desalination Plant, which is being developed by South Coast Water District.
Chula Vista, Calif. – The Sweetwater Authority Governing Board welcomed the Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, E. Joaquin Esquivel, at the Richard A. Reynolds Groundwater Desalination Facility today for a tour.
Sweetwater Authority Logo 2019