Dear Editor,
I thought your publication would be interested in these 3 reports of mine:

Florida turns to membrane filtration plants to provide unfettered growth for 
drinking water 
6/6/2001  
By Donald Sutherland

The world's largest source of desalination membrane water utility plants to 
convert saline water to drinking water is not in the arid Middle East but in 
Florida.

In a state where Governor Jeb Bush has declared a drinking water supply 
crisis and 93% of Florida's 16 million residents rely on groundwater for 
their drinking water, desalination (desal) membrane utility plants are 
providing desperately needed drinking water from deep brackish aquifers.

The desal plants use either electrodialysis (electricity) or a pressure 
driven reverse osmosis (RO) filtration processes incorporating semi-permeable 
membranes to remove salts, calcium, and other undesirable dissolved products 
to produce potable drinking water. (http://www.watermakers.com/how.htm)

Most of the 127 membrane plants listed by the Florida Department of 
Environmental Protection (FDEP) use reverse osmosis (RO) desalination and are 
concentrated in south Florida.

"Florida is the leading source of desalination membrane plants in the world," 
says Dr. Steven J. Duranceau, director of water quality & treatment for Boyle 
Engineering Corp. a leading designer of desal plants in Florida. 
(http://www.boyleengineering.com/index_ie.htm)

"This is a huge market for membrane use being driven by stringent 
disinfection regulations, coastal saltwater intrusion, and stressed shallow 
underground sources of drinking water (USDW) supplies," says Dr. Duranceau.

Record low levels
Sources of drinking water are at record low levels stressed by unfettered 
permitted growth and a four-year drought 
(http://fl.water.usgs.gov/Water_data/miami_drought.html#Current). Throughout 
south Florida overuse of aquifer supplies by expanding communities has 
aggravated saltwater intrusion into drinking water aquifers requiring 
expensive well relocations and desalination plant use.

As Florida's population has grown so has its reliance on desal plant 
treatment of saline ground water for potable drinking water.

US Geological Survey reports of saline ground water (desal/ro & blended) as a 
source of public supply in Florida show a jump from 17.3 million gallons per 
day (mgd) in 1985 to 75.1 mgd in 1998 (*out of a total 2,275.4 mgd overall 
water use in 1998). (http://www.pepps.fsu.edu/safe/environ/wqn4.html; 
http://fl-water.usgs.gov/)

"If you look at the use of desalination in Florida, it is a strong push for 
an alternate source of water," says Richard L. Marella, spokesman for the 
Florida USGS.

"Desalination growth is also responding to the environment which is now a 
real player in water management policy making with such issues as water 
demands for the Everglades," he says.

The City of Cape Coral, FL, on the Gulf Coast (where population has risen 
from 12,000 to 85,000 in 25 years) is almost entirely dependent on 
desalinated water for drinking water and has one of the biggest desal plants 
in the state with a 15 mgd capacity.

In Sarasota County, the largest municipal water treatment facility of its 
type in the world using Ionics' Electrodialysis Reversal (EDR) was 
commissioned in 1995 to demineralize the brackish well water to drinking 
water standards and produces over 12 mgd. 
(http://www.ionics.com/Markets/municipalities/sarasota.htm)

Rapidly growing coastal communities of Jupiter, Melbourne, Hollywood, Cape 
Coral, Naples, Fort Myers, Carlton, Dunedin, Marco Island, Sanibel, Palm 
Coast, and Pine Island have constructed plants in the last 10 years with a 
total capacity of 145.6 mgd. Sarasota, Collier, Palm Beach, and Indian River 
Counties are also expanding their RO/Desal plants.

"The big issue is finding alternatives and enacting stricter conservation 
measures, a politically tough act," says Marella.

Politics
Caught up in the politically tough act to manage the drinking water supply 
crisis are state government district water officials, county commissions, and 
water utilities.

"There is a lot of pressure being put on growth management with water 
resources," says Bart Weiss, senior project manager for the resource 
conservation & development department of the South West Florida Water 
Management District (SWFWMD).

Increasing existing inland wellfield use to supply booming coastal community 
use is hotly contested under the Local Sources First legislation which 
governs moving water across county lines.

"Removal of water from existing inland wellfields is conditional the 
withdrawl won't cause saltwater intrusion, harm the environment and hurt 
others ability to withdraw water," says Michael Molligan, communications & 
community affairs manager for SWFWMD.

The conflict between coastal communities, which have the least water 
resources due to saltwater intrusion, and inland communities wanting to 
reduce pumping to protect against environmental damage has resulted in 
litigation and a continuing difficult reform process.

Funding
In the SWFWMD part of the reform process was establishing a funding 
partnership agreement to give $188 million over 10 years to develop new water 
sources such as desalination plants, reduce inland wellfield pumping with 
emergency orders, and water rate conservation structures.

Based on the SWFWMD agreement with three counties in the Tampa Bay area the 
largest desalination plant in the western hemisphere is planned to be built 
and operated in Tampa by December 2002 at an estimated cost of $74 million 
dollars by Poseidon Resources Corporation and Covanta Energy Corp. 
(www.covantaenergy.com; www.tampabaydesal.com)

Poseidon Resources, a leading developer of water projects headquartered in 
Stamford, CT, was awarded the project by Tampa Bay Water, a government agency 
formed in 1973 to develop the water resources of Pinellas, Pasco and 
Hillsborough counties and the cities of St. Petersburg, Tampa and New Port 
Richey.

Tampa Bay Water officials say the project will provide 25 mgd, meeting 
roughly one tenth of the drinking water needs of the city and the surrounding 
counties.

How much desalination plant growth is going to cost taxpayers of Florida has 
not been assessed. State government and industry officials claim they have 
not financially assessed the projected costs of existing and projected desal 
membrane plants needed to meet Florida's drinking water carrying capacity 
projections.

"Estimating desal plant costs is difficult with smaller plant operations 
costing more per gallon then large plants but Florida's desal treated water 
capacity is currently about 230 million gallons per day with costs ranging 
from $2-$3 per gallon," says Dr. Duranceau.

The costs aside, the big question is whether desalination plant growth is 
going to put a dent in south Florida's continual increasing demand on 
drinking sources that are shrinking.

"Desalination plants have capacity limits and they will process only a small 
percentage of the needed potable drinking water in the state," says Morella.

Environment vs. demand
Something will have to give if Florida's drinking water crisis continues to 
stress the balancing act between environmental and community water demands.

State government officials claim they cannot stop the booming migration and 
building in a state reliant on its shrinking underground sources of drinking 
water supplies (USDW), but a building moratorium has been mentioned.

Governor Bush earlier this year has said "de facto building moratoriums" 
could be imposed by utilities if they cannot provide minimum drinking water 
supplies.

"We can only advise on desalination growth, emergency and conservation 
measures," says Michael Molligan.

"It's going to be up to the local governments to make water use decisions on 
density and new growth levels in this crisis."

(c) Donald Sutherland 2001

Best Wishes,
Donald Sutherland
Member of the Society of Environmental Journalists

http://www.pollutiononline.com/content/news/article.asp?DocID={93714728-5A6D-11D5-A772-00D0B7694F32} 
Florida turns to membrane filtration plants to provide unfettered growth for 
drinking water
6/6/2001 1:36:00 PM The world's largest source of desalination membrane water 
utility plants to convert... 

http://www.riskworld.com/news/03q2/nw03a102.htm
EPA to Permit Florida to Pollute
Drinking Water Supplies
(also on whoseflorida at: 
http://www.whoseflorida.com/misc_pages/EPA_permits_florida_to_pollute_drinking_water.htm  )
The Keys Marine Sanctuary Threatened by Sewage 
http://www.deeperblue.net/article.php/39/13/0