Current Activities
West Basin High Salinty Sensitivity Study (HSSS) - 2013
West Basin's High Salinity Sensitivity Study comprehensively evaluated the potential short-term and long-term exposure effects of high salinity discharges from the West Basin Ocean-Water Desalination Demonstration Facility on aquatic organisms representative of communities indigenous to various near shore environments in Southern California. Links to an abbreviated executive summary and full report below.
Executive Summary (in downloadable PDF format)
West Basin High Salinity Sensitivity Study (in dowloandable PDF format)
West Basin Ocean-Water Desalination Program Master Plan (PMP) - 2013
West Basin's Ocean-Water Desalination Program Master Plan (PMP) serves as the road map for West Basin's desalination future. This comprehensive document details the best next steps for the possibility of a future ocean-water desalination facility within West Basin's service area. An executive summary succintly highlights key findings and recommended future steps and is the best document for a brief overview of findings. For details of the plan, view the section links below.
General Overview and Basic Information
Executive Summary (downloadable in PDF format)
West Basin Desal PMP Slide Presentation (downloadable in PDF format)
Next Steps (more detail by specific category in downloadable PDF format)
Conceptual Design & System Requirements
Power Supply Plan
Project Entitlements Acquisition
Environmental Review Plan
Project Permitting
Facility Operations & Maintenance Plan
Project Costs & Funding
Project Delivery Plan
Dive In (entire document and appendices)
West Basin Desalination Program Master Plan
West Basin Program Master Plan Appendices
Desalination Demonstration Facility
Intake Effects Assessment study coming soon!
West Basin's Temporary Ocean-Water Desalination Demonstration Facility Intake Effects Assessment research is nearly complete. Preliminary results are positive and a final report is expected in summer of 2013. Once complete, West Basin will offer a public "open house" at the Demonstration Facility and provide an overview of findings as well as a tour of the Demonstration Facility and Water Education Center to all interested. Dates for the open house and final research will be posted to this website as soon as possible.
Analysis of the Energy Intensity of Water Supplies for West Basin Municipal Water District
Robert C. Wilkinson, Ph.D., 2007
This report for West Basin Municipal Water District is an update and revision of an analysis and report by Robert Wilkinson, Fawzi Karajeh, and Julie Mottin (Hannah) conducted in April 2005. The earlier report, "Water Sources "Powering" Southern California: Imported Water, Recycled Water, Ground Water, and Desalinated Water", was undertaken with support from the California Department of Water Resources, and it examined the energy intensity of water supply sources for both West Basin and Central Basin Municipal Water Districts. This analysis focuses exclusively on West Basin, and it includes new data for ocean-water desalination based on new engineering developments that have occurred over the past year and a half. For the full report, click here.
ADC baseline tests reveal trends in membrane performance
John MacHarg, Thomas F. Seacord, and Bradley Sessions, 2008
The Affordable Desalination Collaboration (ADC) has completed a major milestone in its test program that profiles the state-of-the-art performance for seawater reverse-osmosis (SWRO) technology. This testing ran over two years and involved operating seven sets of standard 8 inch diameter membranes in seven-element vessels... to read the full report, click here.
Demonstration Project
In June 2005, West Basin was awarded approximately $1.7 million for its desalination program by the California Department of Water Resources under Proposition 50. The goal of West Basin's Temporary Ocean-Water Desalination Demonstration Project is to conduct research and develop data for the permitting, design, construction, and operation of West Basin's proposed full-scale desalination facility. In contrast to the Pilot Project, West Basin's Demonstration Facility will utilize limited quantities of full-scale equipment to refine operating parameters, perform additional water quality testing, evaluate environmentally-protective source intake methodologies, and assess energy efficiency. West Basin's temporary Demonstration project is located at the L.A. Conservation Corps' SEA Lab facility in Redondo Beach, on a fully developed urban site previously used by Southern California Edison and AES Corporation.
Source water intake:
One of the primary purposes of the Demonstration project is to utilize intake technologies that protect marine life. The proposed intake is approximately .55 million gallons per day (MGD) of ocean-water from the Pacific Ocean via an existing concrete pipeline previously used for electricity production operations. The existing pipe is 144 inches in diameter. However, the Demonstration project will require an 8-inch pipe to be installed inside the existing concrete pipe, utilizing a pipe-in-pipe concept. The pipeline extends from a wet well located beneath the SEA Lab facility to approximately 1,600 feet offshore, outside of King Harbor. The pipeline is essentially abandoned and unused, except for a negligible amount of ocean-water pumped from the wet well by SEA Lab for use in their aquariums and seawater tanks. At the seaward end of the proposed intake pipeline will be a state-of-the-art passive wedgewire screen designed to minimize impingement and entrainment impacts to marine biological resources. Sourcewater would travel at a rate of .5 feet per second (FPS) or less to further minimize impingement and entrainment.
Subsurface seawater intake:
As an initial step in evaluating subsurface intake feasibility for desalination, a test bed will be installed on-shore at the temporary Demonstration facility. The test bed will mimic natural filtration characteristics utilizing ocean-water pumped through a second pipeline. To simulate seafloor conditions, intake velocities in the subsurface test bed will be well below the .5 FPS for the proposed source water intake pipeline.
Partners:
- American Water Works Research Foundation
- Association of California Water Agencies
- California Avocado Growers
- California Department of Water Resources
- Calleguas Municipal Water District
- East Bay Municipal Utility District
- Long Beach Water Department
- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
- Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
- Municipal Water District of Orange County
- National Water Research Institute
- Poseidon Resources Inc.
- San Diego County Water Authority
- Tampa Bay Water
- United Bureau of Reclamation