TinyTim

Positioning for When Water Runs Out: Part II

BxCapricorn-
"Tuscon (Tucson) is the largest city to rely solely on groundwater for its supply"

This used to be the case until 15 years ago when the CAP canal brought water from the Colorado River thru Phoenix to Tucson. Until then, the groundwater draw down was so severe that land subsidence was a problem (cracked houses , derailed trains, etc)

Your first link;
www.usbr.gov/pmts/wate...
is a study on using RO to clean up the water from the CAP canal. Since the canal intake is not far from the Mexican desalinization plant, the water quality isn't that great to start with; then 300 miles thru the desert in an open canal doesn't help.


"The latest waste water treatment technology, which utilizes membrane bio reactors (MBR), is capable of receiving raw sewerage effluent and pumping out water that is safe for human consumption. "

I'll pass. Not that familiar with MBR, but most treatment plants can't take out things like pharmaceuticals flushed down the toilet. A ski area in Flagstaff just won the right to use this treated effluent to make snow. These residuals are a large issue for the locals.

Positioning for When Water Runs Out: Part II

There's a large water desalinization plant on the lower Colorado River on the CA side that was built in the early 80's. My understanding is that it was built because the little water remaining in the river before it went into Mexico was too saline for agriculture which violates the River Compact.

Anyway, it's been a boondoggle from the start. Not sure if it's even running now.