Orange County’s Future - Safe & Reliable Water
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Q: What is seawater desalination?
A: Desalination is the state-of-the-art filtration system that converts seawater into safe, reliable drinking water. The process will use reverse osmosis membranes to remove salt and other impurities from the seawater.
Q: Is desalinated water safe to drink?
A: Yes. Reverse osmosis is the most advanced water treatment technology used in over 18,000 facilities worldwide. For the last 20 years, desalination plants have been using reverse osmosis, the same process used aboard cruise ships, navy vessels, and regions where there is no access to safe drinking water. In many arid countries, desalination facilities are the primary source of drinking water, with many of the plants larger than the facility planned for Huntington Beach. Reverse osmosis is also used prevalently in homes to reduce the “hardness” and improve the taste of ordinary tap water.
Q: Why is desalination necessary? Doesn’t Orange County have enough water?
A: The Huntington Beach Desalination Facility is an innovative, cost-effective solution to help reduce dependence on limited water sources while providing a safe, sufficient water supply that meets increasing demands. Orange County currently relies on water from shared, limited sources – the groundwater basin, Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta and the Colorado River.
A: Desalination is the state-of-the-art filtration system that converts seawater into safe, reliable drinking water. The process will use reverse osmosis membranes to remove salt and other impurities from the seawater.
Q: Is desalinated water safe to drink?
A: Yes. Reverse osmosis is the most advanced water treatment technology used in over 18,000 facilities worldwide. For the last 20 years, desalination plants have been using reverse osmosis, the same process used aboard cruise ships, navy vessels, and regions where there is no access to safe drinking water. In many arid countries, desalination facilities are the primary source of drinking water, with many of the plants larger than the facility planned for Huntington Beach. Reverse osmosis is also used prevalently in homes to reduce the “hardness” and improve the taste of ordinary tap water.
Q: Why is desalination necessary? Doesn’t Orange County have enough water?
A: The Huntington Beach Desalination Facility is an innovative, cost-effective solution to help reduce dependence on limited water sources while providing a safe, sufficient water supply that meets increasing demands. Orange County currently relies on water from shared, limited sources – the groundwater basin, Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta and the Colorado River.
- Over 50 percent of Orange County’s water is imported from the Delta and the Colorado River. These sources are increasingly limited and face declining water availability, increased quality challenges and rising costs.
- According to the U.S. Census Bureau, California had more than 37 million people as of 2010 and is expected to add about four million people between 2010 and 2020.
- According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, California’s dependence on water for agriculture, industry and recreation makes drought planning a necessity for economic and quality of life reasons.
- Orange County alone will grow by an additional 350,000 people over ten years, placing an increased strain on our historical sources of water. 350,000 new residents is the equivalent of having a city the size of Anaheim added to Orange County over a ten-year period.
- Water facilities take many years to obtain approvals and to construct. This means new facilities are proposed in advance of the public’s need for the infrastructure in order to ensure it is operational by the time the water is required.
Rendering of the proposed Huntington Beach Seawater Desalintion Plant
Learn more about desalination
- California Resource Agency: www.resources.ca.gov.
- International Desalination Association: www.idadesal.org.
- American Membrane Technology Association: https://www.amtaorg.com.
- The National Council of Public-Private Partnerships: www.ncppp.org.
- Urban Water Institute: www.urbanwater.com.
- Carlsbad Desalintion Project: www.carlsbaddesal.com.
- Poseidon Water: www.poseidonwater.com.
"New projects such as the Huntington Beach Seawater Desalination Project help increase local supplies and reduce Southern California's reliance on imported water supplies to meet expected future demands."
~ Jeffrey Kightlinger, General Manager, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California