Just as we promised: A compendium of links to online resources about desalination that will be regularly updated. No, really. That’s the whole point. Most recent update: 4/12/09.

Update, 4/12/09

A February 2009 article about the current state of desalination in California. As of 2007, 20 water agencies have been considering and/or developing desalination options. The article is a good introduction to the arguments put forward by proponents and opponents of large-scale desalination plants. There is a bonus nifty diagram, complete with map of proposed California desal facilities.

A HowStuffWorks video,  a good basic introduction except that it never mentions the drawbacks to desalination and makes it all seem very simple. Interesting segment about the Santa Catalina island desal facility, which makes desalination appear to be nothing but an upgrade to paradise.

From Water-technology.net, “the website for the water and wastewater industry,” a comprehensive look at the (drum roll) Global Water Awards’ 2006 ‘Desalination Plant of the Year’ : the Ashkelon Desalination Plant in Israel. While  a PR piece created to get potential customers and investors all hot and bothered about desal’s potential, the article also reveals the mind-boggling technological complexity behind the dream of  desalination plant and drives home the fact that we’re talking about massive, power-hungry, environment-threatening, ugly-assed industrial complexes–and can thus be cited by opponents as arguments against themselves.

A Google video about the Ashkelon Desal Plant. An upbeat report with nary a negative word about industrial-scale desal plants. A highlight is a visitor to the facility,  the 88-year-old Sydney Loeb, who partnered with another student researcher in the 60′s, to perfect the reverse osmosis process.

Desalination: Energy Down the Drain. The title of this article by Debbie Cook, former mayor of Huntington Beach, CA, kinda gives away her position on the topic. In 2003, she was invited to serve on the California Desalination Task Force, a legislatively mandated effort by the Department of Water Resources to study desalination facilities and “report on potential opportunities and impediments…” Her experience from then on turned her into a self-confessed water-obsessive, deeply concerned about the relationship between water and finite energy resources.  She’s unequivocal: “It is my knowledge of our energy and resource constraints that leads me to reject ocean desalination as the water of our future.” This is a great, data-rich article with lots of links that is posted on The Oil Drum, the stated mission of which is to facilitate civil, evidence-based discussions about energy and its impact on our future.
Update, 9/9/08, California desalination articles from Aquafornia

• Maybe not everything you want to know about the current state of desalination in the biggest water-wasting political entity on the planet, but it will keep you busy and up to the minute.

Basic and/or general information

In April 2008, The (U.S.) National Research Council released an important report about the current state of desalination in the U.S. You can go here to read it online or download the PDF. You can also read or download the executive summary, and there is even a podcast summary.

Two nicely produced and fairly current white papers produced by the World Wildlife Fund: This one, 53 pages of well-organized basic information, is a June 2007 global assessment that begins by asking if desalination is an option or a distraction from conservation-based solutions. The WWF concludes it’s both, if more the latter than the former. This one, entitled Rich Countries, Poor Water, provides 32-pages of information about the looming fresh water crises in wealthy developed countries which are exhausting and contaminating their water supplies, degrading the water ecosystem, failing to coordinate water management which is causing water related conflicts.

Video: A 90-minute Google video of a talk by Kevin Price of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on desalination. After watching this you will be able to join Waterblogged.info as a senior fellow. Elevator summary: We’re in trouble and desalination is not the sole solution, but part of a comprehensive plan that includes conservation, reuse, transfers, etc. (powerpoint here price.ppt)

Video below: Part I of 4 of an interview of water expert Heather Cooley of the Pacific Institute by one doofus of a show host. He’s lame, she’s sharp and informative. Go to YouTube for Parts 2-4.

The World’s Water 2006-2007: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources This is an abridged sample version of the Pacific Institute’s biennial report written by Peter H. Gleick. Included here because of a great chapter on desalination, there’s plenty of information in this truncated version to satisfy the curiosity of all but the most water-obsessed.

A concise summary article on desalination, perfect for you kids out there doing that last-minute assignment for science class that’s due tomorrow! Careful, no plagiarizing! The teacher will catch you, because, believe it or not, teachers know more than you.

Written by an employee of a company that has everything to gain with widespread adoption of desalination, it’s nonetheless an excellent overview of the complexities of large-scale desalination plants. Plus way cool graphics!

From WaterWebster, a comprehensive site about water, but kinda unscrupulous. Lots of links to information about desalination to be sure, but the site uses frames to create the erroneous impression that the linked sites are associated with WaterWebster. Beware dead links as well.

Multimedia: An up-to-date narrated photo tour of the Tampa Bay desal plant, narrated by journalist and water expert Cynthia Barnett. We’re including this in the Tampa Bay section below, but it’s a fantastic introduction to the technological complexities involved in desalination.

A comprehensive overview of desalination from the California Coastal Commission.

A brief—very brief, maybe too brief—history of desalination, included here because of its links to nice and concise definitions of the state-of-the-art desal processes, such as multi-stage flash, multiple effect, membrane-based, etc. (You can read more about those in the paper from the California Coastal Commission above.)

Pro Desalination

A generally positive assessment of desalination

Video: When a couple of young studs strut around with a video camera at Miami Beach interviewing bikini-clad young women, what immediately comes to mind? Yes, you salty dog–desalination! The lads over-the-top enthusiasm for their favorite method of collecting fresh water may be in part related to the fact that GE is paying them to romp and rave.

Con Desalination

Public Citizen’s views on the drawbacks of desalination

Live Science on why desalination doesn’t work (yet)

Pros and cons of desalination from the Pacific Institute*

Comment on World Wildlife Fund’s negative assessment of desalination report from Grist.org

*The following is a video of a talk by Heather Cooley of the Pacific Institute titled Desalination: With a Grain of Salt. A pdf of a report with the same name can be downloaded from the institute’s site.

The Tampa Bay Experience

A brief and benign history of the Tampa Bay desalination plant which is to be fully operational in 2008. No, really, this time it’s gonna work! This isn’t 2003, you know! We know so much more now! We’re gonna nail it! This is a good summary of why industrial-scale desalination is a big, big technological problem.

A three-page business model for the Tampa Bay project. Undated, it appears quite current given the details.

Specs for the Tampa Bay desalination plant with an updated timeline that includes the projected 2008 fully operational phase. This is for water-tech geeks who want to know just how big those turbines are.

Multimedia: An up-to-date narrated photo tour of the Tampa Bay desal plant, narrated by journalist and water expert Cynthia Barnett. A fantastic introduction to the complexities involved in desalination.

Desal in California and the Southwest

Video: Taking a break from petty crime, fires, and traffic accidents, San Francisco’s ABC affiliate, KGO offers A Look at the Desalination Process, an informative video update on the state-of-the-art of desalination efforts in water-challenged California.

Detailed article about San Diego’s plans to build a desal plant.

Go Bruins! A UCLA alumni magazine article about desal from a Southern Cal business perspective. Quite good.

Great Wired feature article about the twists and turns of a desalination effort in the Southwest

The Business of Desalination
The line between desalination as a topic and business is hard to draw. Desalination—in the U.S. at any rate—is big business. The articles linked in this section are from a business perspective, i.e., the imminent water crisis is an opportunity.

Linked above in the basic information section, this article was authored by an employee of a company that has everything to gain with widespread adoption of desalination, it’s nonetheless an excellent overview of the complexities of large-scale desalination plants.

Plus way cool graphics! The company’s site is as good a gateway as any into the world of big water business. Become a water baron! The folks at this newsletter site–called Whiskey & Gunpowder for no readily discernible reason–want to help you get rich by investing in the big water plays to come! Why they want to help you get rich rather than hogging all the opportunities is as puzzling as their name.

This guy makes a strong case for immediate moves to develop and deploy large-scale desal operations throughout the U.S. It will be good for the country, oh, and just incidentally good for business: “Regardless, one of the safest predictions is that the manufacture and distribution of fresh water will become one of the world’s biggest businesses. And the sooner we get on with it, the better for all of us.”

Low-Tech Desalination Devices

A nice and positive overview of the Watercone ®, a simple desalination device.

Waterblogged.info’s less sanguine view of the Watercone: Will the Watercone ® solve the global water crisis and end thirst as we know it?