The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last month it will loan Poseidon Water $170 million to upgrade its Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant in Southern California.
The funds will be used to upgrade the desalination plant’s seawater intake and discharge systems to meet California’s so-called Ocean Plan standards for protecting marine life, according to the EPA.
The plant provides up to 50 million gallons of clean, fresh water to the San Diego region daily. That is about ten percent of the region’s water supply, according to the EPA.
In order to make that much water, the plant pulls an estimated 100 million gallons from the Pacific Ocean. Most of the excess water is used to dilute the residual brine water that is returned to the ocean after the fresh water is extracted from the seawater, according to Poseidon Water….