San Diego may be known as "America's Finest City," but — at least this week — it's also the epicenter of the desalination and water reuse movement. [...]
The area had one of the first desalination plants — opened in Point Loma in 1961 — and will soon see a $1-billion facility open in Carlsbad. [...]
a sustainable water future depends on two things: "political leadership and public engagement, whether it's desalination or reuse."
— latimes.com
Desalination is just one large-scale technology for treating potable water, but it's attracted recent attention in places like Santa Barbara and San Diego as the California cities ramp up their water-conservation efforts and learn how to market the large upfront costs of desalination as long-term money savers.
While not necessarily practical for inland cities, desalination for has been adopted in Australia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia, and experts from these areas shared their success stories recently with San Diego officials. While desalination can seem like a silver bullet, cities should never be comfortable relying on a single technology, but combine what they have with new strategies to always be anticipating future needs.
Nearby Carlsbad, also in San Diego County, is home to the nation's largest desalination plant, which opens soon.
For more on California's drought:
And keep your eye out for the winners of Archinect's Dry Futures competition – announcements will be made soon!
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