“Improving desalination and water purification across the West is crucial to providing affordable, clean and sustainable water supplies for American communities,” said Commissioner Estevan López. “These projects represent a small portion of the many worthy proposals we have received. The president's budget request for Fiscal Year 2016 includes a 19 percent increase over this year’s budget and, if approved, this amount would be a big step forward for more projects to receive funding next year. ”
Research laboratory projects are small-scale projects used to determine if a process is feasible. Funding is provided for one year and is capped at $150,000 per project.
New projects are:
- Carollo Engineers - $150,000 (California): “Identifying Factors to Increase the Membrane Life in a Seeded Slurry Environment”
- Regents of the University of California - $150,000 (California): “Overcoming Operating Pressure Barrier in High Recovery Membrane Desalination via Hybrid RO-NF Processes”
- Vanderbilt University - $145,471 (Tennessee): “Omniphobic Membrane for Robust and Versatile Membrane Distillation Desalination”
- WateReuse Research Foundation – Hazen and Sawyer - $98,905 (New York): “Developing a Methodology for a Comprehensive Analysis of Alternative Water Supply Projects Compared to Direct Potable Reuse”
- WateReuse Research Foundation – University of Arizona and Black & Veatch - $150,000 (Arizona): “Integrating Management of Sensor Data for a Real Time Decision Making and Response System”
New projects are:
- Padre Dam Municipal Water District - $200,000 (California): “Maximizing Product Water through Brine Minimization: Innovative Recovery RO Testing”
- WateReuse Research Foundation – City of San Diego, CA - $200,000 (California): “Realizing Reverse Osmosis Potential for Potable Reuse: Demonstrating Enhanced Pathogen Removal”
Pilot projects on their second year of funding are:
- New Mexico State University - $199,974 (New Mexico): “Demonstration of Monovalent Selective Ion Exchange Membranes for Desalination and Reuse Enhancement”
- San Diego County Water Authority - $200,000 (California): “Pilot Testing Program for the Proposed Camp Pendleton Seawater Desalination Project”
Using testing and new advanced water treatment technologies, the DWPR Program helps Reclamation and its partners identify widening imbalances between supply and demand in western water basins.
The DWPR Program priorities are (1) overcoming technical, economic and social barriers for direct and/or indirect potable reuse treatment, (2) novel processes and/or materials to treat impaired waters, and (3) concentrate management solutions leading to concentrate volume minimization for inland brackish desalination.
To learn more about Reclamation's Advanced Water Treatment activities, please visit: www.usbr.gov/awt/.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
