산타바바라(Santa Barbara)는 이전에 운영을 중단했었던 담수화플랜트를 다시 가동하기 위해 64만4천 달러를 승인할 계획임을 밝혔다. 산타바바라는 담수화플랜트 없이는 잠재적인 물공급이 심각한 위기에 직면했다.
The Charles E. Meyer 담수화플랜트는 1990년대 중반 이후 대기 상태에 있었다. 이 시설을 다시 가동하기 전에 업그레이드를 위해 3천만 달러의 비용이 필요한 상황이다. 이 시설이 작동된다면 연간 500만 달러의 비용이 소요된다. 그러나 이 시설이 없는 상황에서는 도시 물 공급의 60%가 감소할 것으로 전망된다.
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Santa Barbara OKs US$64k desalination study funding
US city, Santa Barbara, has approved US$ 644,000 to fund studies needed before its dormant desalination plant can reopen. Without the plant the city faces a potential water supply crisis.
The Charles E. Meyer desalination facility has been on standby status since the mid- 1990s, and needs about US$ 30 million in upgrades before it's operational again. Running the facility will cost an estimated US$ 5 million per year, but without it, the city faces a 60% drop in water supplies.
Santa Barbara has already declared a Stage II drought, which includes water-use restrictions and drought water rates for utility customers.
Desalination is written into the city's drought plan. Without it, the council has estimated that Santa Barbara will have shortages starting in 2016. The city will have adequate supplies for the next water year, which starts October 1, 2014 only if customers cut their use by 20%, according to council figures.
The council's recently approved funding is to cover the costs of environmental studies required by the California Coastal Commission and other regulatory agencies before the plant can reopen. It also covers specialized legal services.
With the current schedule, the city council would consider bids next April and the plant would come online in mid-2016.
The Coastal Commission is requiring a biological assessment of the ocean floor near the seawater intake for the reverse osmosis plant, according to Santa Barbara's acting water resources manager Joshua Haggmark. The study will examine impacts from reinstalling the screens and pumps for the intake facility, he said.
Santa Barbara is also funding a water-quality sampling study, which is required by the California Department of Public Health. Solid waste from the plant would be dumped with the discharge from the El Estero Wastewater Treatment Plant. A computer modeling study of the desalination discharge mixed with wastewater is required by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
At the same time the city is dealing with the coastal development permit amendments, it is renewing its permit to discharge wastewater and desalination brine into the Pacific Ocean, Haggmark said.
Santa Barbara's national pollutant discharge elimination system permit allows 55 Ml/d of wastewater from El Estero and 12.5 Ml/d of desalination brine to be discharged, but it expires in May 2015.
The Charles E. Meyer desalination facility has been on standby status since the mid- 1990s, and needs about US$ 30 million in upgrades before it's operational again. Running the facility will cost an estimated US$ 5 million per year, but without it, the city faces a 60% drop in water supplies.
Santa Barbara has already declared a Stage II drought, which includes water-use restrictions and drought water rates for utility customers.
Desalination is written into the city's drought plan. Without it, the council has estimated that Santa Barbara will have shortages starting in 2016. The city will have adequate supplies for the next water year, which starts October 1, 2014 only if customers cut their use by 20%, according to council figures.
The council's recently approved funding is to cover the costs of environmental studies required by the California Coastal Commission and other regulatory agencies before the plant can reopen. It also covers specialized legal services.
With the current schedule, the city council would consider bids next April and the plant would come online in mid-2016.
The Coastal Commission is requiring a biological assessment of the ocean floor near the seawater intake for the reverse osmosis plant, according to Santa Barbara's acting water resources manager Joshua Haggmark. The study will examine impacts from reinstalling the screens and pumps for the intake facility, he said.
Santa Barbara is also funding a water-quality sampling study, which is required by the California Department of Public Health. Solid waste from the plant would be dumped with the discharge from the El Estero Wastewater Treatment Plant. A computer modeling study of the desalination discharge mixed with wastewater is required by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
At the same time the city is dealing with the coastal development permit amendments, it is renewing its permit to discharge wastewater and desalination brine into the Pacific Ocean, Haggmark said.
Santa Barbara's national pollutant discharge elimination system permit allows 55 Ml/d of wastewater from El Estero and 12.5 Ml/d of desalination brine to be discharged, but it expires in May 2015.
[출처 = D&WR / 2014년 7월 29일]