After more than 17 years of planning, permitting and construction, operations are under way at the Carlsbad Desalination Plant in Southern California, the nation’s largest and most technologically advanced seawater desalination plant. The plant is the result of a 30-year Water Purchase Agreement between the plant’s developer and owner, Poseidon Water, and the San Diego County Water Authority for the production of up to 56,000 acre-feet of water per year, enough to meet the needs of approximately 400,000 people. It is a major component of the Water Authority’s multi-decade strategy to diversify the region’s water supply portfolio.
The $1 billion desalination project includes the desalination plant, a 10-mile pipeline that connects to the Water Authority’s regional distribution system and upgrades to facilities for distributing desalinated seawater throughout the region. It will be the first water infrastructure project in California to have a zero net carbon footprint. The plant uses reverse osmosis to produce approximately 10 percent of the region’s water supply with state-of-the-art technology to reduce energy demands. The water is blended with water from other sources for regional distribution.