Desalination In California

Green Living

"Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink".  Then there was desalination...

As a result of California being in an extreme drought, momentum is gathering for more desalination projects along the California coast. A billion-dollar Carlsbad Desalination Plant is slated to start delivering water to San Diegans by 2016. 




Desalination is the process of removing salt from ocean water so that the water can be used as fresh water.

Environmental Impact

"The relationship between desalinization and climate change is complex. Marine biologists warn that widespread desalinization could take a heavy toll on ocean biodiversity; as such facilities' intake pipes essentially vacuum up and inadvertently kill millions of plankton, fish eggs, fish larvae and other microbial organisms that constitute the base layer of the marine food chain. And, according to Jeffrey Graham of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography's Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, the salty sludge leftover after desalinization for every gallon of freshwater produced, another gallon of doubly concentrated salt water must be disposed of can wreak havoc on marine ecosystems if dumped willy-nilly offshore." Excerpt Scientific American, The Impacts of Relying on Desalination for Water

Learn more about the environment impact of desalination in a free report by Pacific Institute " KEY ISSUES IN SEAWATER DESALINATION IN CALIFORNIA"  Marine Impacts

Tools You Can Use | California 

Do you know where your water comes from? If not, visit WaterEducation.org  and learn more.

California Environmental Protection Agency State Water Resources Control Board is a helpful resource for finding current and pending regulation in the state of California.

Visit the Fresh Water Watch, Taking Action page for ideas on how you can reduce your impact on freshwater systems now and in the future.

As with all industrial solutions we should proceed with environmental responsibility.