Nice Tall Glass of Sea Water

Saw this last night on Daily Planet and thought it was interesting.

Its about the water plant in Perth-AU that pumps water from the ocean... filters it (desalination), then uses reverse-osmosis to purify it.

The segment stated that the water is so pure after going through thousands of membranes, that they have to add chemicals to make it safe to drink. ( I always thought pure water was safe )


(Cannot find the link via Discovery Channel)

www.water-technology.net...

To take water from the ocean and make it safe to drink.. on such a mass scale is awesome

Located at Kwinana, some 25km south of the city, the new plant has an initial daily capacity of 140,000m³ with designed expansion to 250,000m³/day, making it the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere and the biggest in the world to be powered by renewable energy

The electricity consumption is quite high, so they initiated a Windmill Generation plant nearby, which covers most of their electricity needs, making the plant basically self-sufficient.

By 2010, around 107GL/year of new water will be needed to meet the rising demands of a growing population

Plans of expansion are already in the works. They are looking at other locations as well as larger facilities to prepare for the future.

After the sea water has been circulated through the plant, the remaining water (now with an extremely high salt concentrate) is discharged back into the ocean where it can then be used over and over again.

The high salt out put is monitored by several buoys placed in and around the discharge locations.
At first I thought this must be the 'Con' of the operation, but claims of no ill effects to the environment or the critters that live there seem to be holding up.

This plant has been in operation for years now and is probably old news to most, but I thought some people ,such as myself, may not have known this even existed.

Not sure what would happen if all countries adopted this technology though, could the overall salt content in the ocean get to a dangerous level over time (Dead Sea)?
I hope they are looking at the end results as well as the current satisfaction.

Hats off to the Aussies and their planning for the future.

Seawater desalination plants are one of the best ways to get water. It comes out clean and pure. Here in Aruba we add nutrients for it not to be too pure. (although we don't use reverse osmosis)

Considering the worlds oceans lose a collective average of over 1 metre of water per year through evaporation (86% of rain comes directly from ocean water), a few little plants aren't going to effect things too much.

I would think that they add impurities to the water such as chlorine, to prevent harmful organisms from entering the water as it travels through the pipes. As far as I am aware, pure water is safe to drink, except that is doesn't contain such things as electrolytes.

i drink brawndo. it DOES have electrolytes. =)

seriously though, i wonder if pure water has the same effect that distilled water has on cell membranes. last i heard it couldn't do enough damage to actually hurt you unless you drank a LOT of it. haven't heard about pure water not being good to drink.

reply to post by watch_the_rocks


I was thinking more along the lines of 'many' plants being errected.
What if many countries adopted this method of 'producing' usable water, what kind of effect would this have on our oceans?

I wonder if any governmnent restrictions would be put in place, on where and who could do this.

Bandit - do you have any idea exactly what they have to add to the water?

I can say this, I have been a huge fan of desalination since my honeymoon in Aruba in 1990. I had no intention of going someplace where I might end up having to spend the week on the toilet (I'm very sensitive to even city to city changes in H2O).

I can report that I grew up on well water in NY and Aruba has the best tasting water I've even encountered compared to that. I didn't even detect any chlorine in it, and I ususally am very sensitive to that.

In addition, it was my understanding your plants also generate power for the Country. Am I wrong, because I don't understand these other plants claiming the burden on the energy consumption.

Aruba should have been an example that was explored a long time ago. I also would like to compliment the amount of grey water that I saw recycled there. Truly impressive water management for an arid island!

Originally posted by Grailkeeper
Saw this last night on Daily Planet and thought it was interesting.

Its about the water plant in Perth-AU that pumps water from the ocean... filters it (desalination), then uses reverse-osmosis to purify it.

The segment stated that the water is so pure after going through thousands of membranes, that they have to add chemicals to make it safe to drink. ( I always thought pure water was safe

)


(Cannot find the link via Discovery Channel)

www.water-technology.net...

To take water from the ocean and make it safe to drink.. on such a mass scale is awesome

Located at Kwinana, some 25km south of the city, the new plant has an initial daily capacity of 140,000m³ with designed expansion to 250,000m³/day, making it the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere and the biggest in the world to be powered by renewable energy

The electricity consumption is quite high, so they initiated a Windmill Generation plant nearby, which covers most of their electricity needs, making the plant basically self-sufficient.

By 2010, around 107GL/year of new water will be needed to meet the rising demands of a growing population

Plans of expansion are already in the works. They are looking at other locations as well as larger facilities to prepare for the future.

After the sea water has been circulated through the plant, the remaining water (now with an extremely high salt concentrate) is discharged back into the ocean where it can then be used over and over again.

The high salt out put is monitored by several buoys placed in and around the discharge locations.
At first I thought this must be the 'Con' of the operation, but claims of no ill effects to the environment or the critters that live there seem to be holding up.

This plant has been in operation for years now and is probably old news to most, but I thought some people ,such as myself, may not have known this even existed.

Not sure what would happen if all countries adopted this technology though, could the overall salt content in the ocean get to a dangerous level over time (Dead Sea)?
I hope they are looking at the end results as well as the current satisfaction.

Hats off to the Aussies and their planning for the future.

Hi Grailkeeper

I must say, I live in the Perth region and have had the privilage of tasting this desal water from Kwinana that you refer to (my place of business ordered 1,000 bottles of the stuff as a publicity stunt).

I have to tell you ... seriously ... it tastes like #e!

Bottled spring water is much nicer. However, if we were in a situation where it was drink it or die, I most likely wouldn't have a problem with it, but whilst there is spring water available...I won't be in any hurry!

And no, I'm not aligned with any spring water companies ...

Dobbie

reply to post by Relentless


Here's the website of the plant:

www.webaruba.com...

Tap water is pure distilled water filtered through a bed of coral rocks where it absorbs important minerals such as calcium, and oxygen.

Yes it is one of the best, if not the best tap water in the world. It is so good that I hate drinking it out of a plastic cup, because then it will taste like the cup. Glasses and metal cups are much better.

But then it does have it's drawback. The plant also generates electricity, and we burn oil for that.


You know what's funny, relatives or friends who come to visit us often buy bottled water because they do not believe us that the water is that good. Of course they don't know that the exact same water is in the AWA bottled water that is being sold the most on the island. And when they're finished with it, we refill it for them with tap water, and they will think it's a new bottle and keep drinking it.

[edit on 28-4-2008 by TheBandit795]

Two sides of the spectrum...

An Aussie not impressed by the taste and an Aruban(?) (going out on a limb with that one) that thinks its the greatest water around.

I have to say Bandit, I am extremely envious of your tap water
But I would be the same as your relatives.. you would have to keep re-filling my bottle and telling me its a new bottle. LOL

I guess it does all come down to the additives when taste is concerned.

You bottled water-drinkers are aware that for every litre of water produced, up to seven litres of water and one litre of crude oil are used, right? On top of that, worldwide 90% of the plastic involved is dumped into landfills, and the plants the produce the stuff commonly drill into aquifers, prompting salt intrusion and effecting the sediment in nearby streams and rivers.
And if they don't do that, then most likely they are re-processing tap water, something you can do with a $20 filter yourself. Aquafina and Dasani use re-processed tap water.

In the state of Victoria, Aust, studies have shown that tap water has 1% the environmental impact of bottled water.

I saw this in a newspaper recently: What's Evian spelt backwards?