The facility, which co-habits with the Los Angeles Conservation’s SEA Lab education center in Redondo Beach is part of West Basin’s Water Reliability 2020 (WR2020) initiative to bring down dependence on unreliable imported water use in the South Bay from 66% to 33% by the year 2020.
West Basin’s new demonstration facility’s desalination process involves testing ‘at the source’ ocean withdrawal and return methods that protect the ocean environment. These include wedgewire screens, sea floor withdrawal simulation and returning salt water dilution and diffusion.
The project will also test plant operation optimization and energy recovery systems from its reverse osmosis system. The end result will be de-salinated water.
In addition to the physical treatment plant, a new Water Education Center is also being built within an unused pump station at the SEA Lab property with the motive to spread awareness about the importance of water conservation, recycling and ocean protection.
This will demonstrate the safety of water returning to the ocean with two ocean tanks, one with Santa Monica Bay water and one filled with diluted salt water produced through the purification process.
The new Ocean-Water Desalination Demonstration Facility and Water Education Center, currently under construction, will be operational in fall of 2010.
Gloria Gray, president of board of directors at West Basin, said: ”Southern California is faced with a fragile, out-of-date state water delivery system, predicted reductions in imported water supplies caused by climate change, continued statewide population growth, and other limitations. We need to develop new locally-controlled water supplies to protect our water future.
”After more than 15 years of aggressive conservation and recycled water programs, West Basin is proud to continue its history of water technology innovation by pioneering environmentally responsible ocean-water desalination.”
