Evaluation of Technical Material and Information for Seawater Desalting Demonstration Plants

摘要

Evaluation was conducted of technical information/material provided by applicants to the OWRT Desalting Demonstration Plant Program, authorized by P.L. 95-84 and 95-467 to demonstrate state-of-the-art in desalting technology. The evaluation used eight criteria: interest and commitment; and considerations for general site, desalting needs, demographics and socio-economics, water supply, financial, energy, and environmental. Twenty sites located in thirteen states, the Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands were evaluated under these criteria. The sites were ranked by raw cumulative score. Sites with critical water needs were identified in both small and large cities. Comments were provided on the top ten ranked sites. The top ranked site to demonstrate single-stage reverse osmosis (RO) desalination was Grand Isle, Louisiana. The second ranked site was Key West, Florida, partly since its water shortage has become more acute than two years ago. It was determined that all twenty site applications were justified for consideration in the seawater RO demonstration plant program and that more than half would have been excellent demonstration plant sites, but critical water shortage of the two top ranked sites and other qualifications mandated their high rankings.