New study investigates building seawater desalination facility
The Gulf Coast Water Authority is leading a new study to see if a seawater desalination plant might be feasible in the region.
Desalination is the process of removing salts from saltwater and turning it into fresh water. The organization is working with the Brazos River Authority and Harris-Galveston Subsidence District on the regional seawater desalination feasibility study, which the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Reclamation is partially funding.
“We should leave no stone unturned when we’re looking to get potable water,” said Robert Upton, district engineer with the water authority.
Upton said a desalination plant has been something the water authority has had in its long-term forecasts as a project to consider for years. He said the Bureau of Reclamation opened a grant program last year for feasibility studies. To be able to receive a grant from the bureau down the line to build a potential desalination plant, the water authority would need to have an approved feasibility study.
Finding a potential location for a plant, estimating costs and projecting the size needed for a plant to fulfill local needs are all goals of the study, Upton said.
Brad Brunett, the central and lower basin regional manager for the Brazos River Authority, said something that excites him about the project is the potential to tap into a water resource, the Gulf of Mexico, that would be virtually unlimited.
“From my perspective, there will be a seawater desalination facility on the Gulf Coast of Texas and probably more than one in the future. It’s a matter of economics and when the time is right,” Brunett said.
He added this isn’t the first time the river authority has looked into desalination, noting it was first discussed two decades ago.
The regional seawater desalination feasibility study grant is estimated to be $731,000 with half coming from the Bureau of Reclamation and the other half coming from the Gulf Coast Water Authority, Brazos River Authority and Harris-Galveston Subsidence District.
According to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts office, the two most common desalination processes are the thermal method and the reverse osmosis method. The thermal method turns the saltwater liquid into a vapor before cooling it back into liquid form. The reverse osmosis method sees saltwater going through multiple membranes before becoming potable water.
There are 53 municipal desalination facilities in Texas, but none of them is a seawater desalination plant, the Texas Water Development Board reports.
The Corpus Christi city government has recently approved the building of the Inner Harbor Desalination Facility, which the city said will cost about $758 million. Upton said he has talked with people involved with the Corpus Christi project and will continue to do so as that project progresses.
Upton said the seawater desalination plant in the Gulf Coast could be another important tool for obtaining fresh water as the Houston area continues to see population growth.
“It’s not a really snap-yourfinger quick process,” Upton said. “It’s going to take some time so that’s why it’s good to start now.”