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Justin Gillis writes in the NYT that as drought strikes California, residents "can't help but notice the substantial reservoir of untapped water lapping at their shores — 187 quintillion gallons of it, more or less, shimmering invitingly in the sun."
Once dismissed as too expensive and harmful to the environment, desalination is getting a second look. [...] A $1 billion desalination plant to supply booming San Diego County is under construction and due to open as early as November, providing a major test of whether California cities will be able to resort to the ocean to solve their water woes. [...] "It was not an easy decision to build this plant," says Mark Weston, chairman of the agency that supplies water to towns in San Diego County. "But it is turning out to be a spectacular choice. What we thought was on the expensive side 10 years ago is now affordable."
Carlsbad's product will sell for around $2,000 per acre-foot (the amount used by two five-person U.S. households per year), which is 80 percent more than what the county pays for treated water from outside the area. Water bills already average about $75 a month and the new plant will drive them up by $5 or so to secure a new supply equal to about 7 or 8 percent of the county's water consumption.
Critics say the plant will use a huge amount of electricity, increasing the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming, which further strains water supplies. And local environmental groups, which have fought the plant, fear a substantial impact on sea life. "There is just a lot more that can be done on both the conservation side and the water-recycling side before you get to [desalination]," says Rick Wilson, coastal management coordinator with the environmental group Surfrider Foundation. "We feel, in a lot of cases, that we haven't really explored all of those options."
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 12 2015, @09:36PM
A homeowner with 4 people, 1 bathroom, no lawn watering, average bill is $130 per month. Broken down... 5000 gallons of Water $40, Sewer charge $60, System & Infrastructure charge $30. This is a highly watersaving household. Welcome to Southern California, owned and operated by the public utilities.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 12 2015, @09:54PM
supply and demand
that's what you get for building on a gold rush wasteland
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 12 2015, @10:06PM
Ah, but we save on heating bills. Gas & Electricity is still expensive, but we don't have air conditioning so that bill is still under $100 per month tops. Housing costs are outrageous, but my mortgage was paid off in 10 years by creative financing. The only thing to worry about is earthquakes and a$$holes. I also just installed six 50 gallon rain barrels to water the veggie garden, it's just enough to provide that water requirement between rainstorms here. Our water use is half the average use.
(Score: 5, Funny) by hemocyanin on Sunday April 12 2015, @10:27PM
I live in NW WA state -- I just leave the tap running -- saves wear and tear on the washers in the handle.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday April 13 2015, @01:51AM
How did you pull that off?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2015, @03:11AM
2. transfer your balance to another CC with a free interest on balance xfer for 6-12 month
3. repeat at the end of period