How much does it cost to build a desalination plant?

The nonpartisan research group recently issued a lengthy report on the state of desalination in California. Beyond the environmental cost is the actual price tag: the plant in Carlsbad cost $1 billion to build, with a rough estimate of $50 million a year for the power to run it.

How much money does water desalination cost?

Desalinated water typically costs about $2,000 an acre foot — roughly the amount of water a family of five uses in a year. The cost is about double that of water obtained from building a new reservoir or recycling wastewater, according to a 2013 study from the state Department of Water Resources.

Are desalination plants cost effective?

MSF distillation plants produce about 60\% of all desalinated water in the world, and the MSF process is considered to be the most cost-effective process for the production of fresh water from seawater in places where the cost of energy is relatively low, such as in the Arabian Gulf.

How expensive is saltwater to freshwater?

It can cost from just under $1 to well over $2 to produce one cubic meter (264 gallons) of desalted water from the ocean. That’s about as much as two people in the U.S. typically go through in a day at home.

What is the cost of a small desalination plant?

The average costs, represented by the best fit line in the data shown, are about $0.70/m3 ($2.65 per thousand gallons) for very large plants (325,000 m3/day) and rise to $1.25/m3 ($4.75 per thousand gallons) for small plants (10,000 m3/day).

Is there a cheap way to desalinate water?

Cellulose acetatepowder is a fiber derived from wood pulp and is, according to theresearchers, cheap and easy to make in any laboratory. Accordingto the paper, the membrane can quickly desalinate highly concentratedseawater and purify even badly contaminated seawater.

Why California has no desalination?

Experts agree that cities need diverse water supplies, but desalination plants remain controversial. Once again, California is in a drought. The state’s climate is becoming increasingly unstable, oscillating between periods of drought and deluge, which is making the water supply hard to predict.

Can you desalinate ocean water by boiling it?

Desalination is the process of removing salt from seawater, making it drinkable. This is done either by boiling the water and collecting the vapor (thermal) or by pushing it through special filters (membrane).