California City Considers Restarting Desalination Plant To Fight Drought

First time accepted submitter SaraLast (3619459) writes in with news about Santa Barbara considering the restart of its desalination plant. "This seaside city thought it had the perfect solution the last time California withered in a severe drought more than two decades ago: Tap the ocean to turn salty seawater to fresh water. The $34 million desalination plant was fired up for only three months and mothballed after a miracle soaking of rain. As the state again grapples with historic dryness, the city nicknamed the "American Riviera" has its eye on restarting the idled facility to hedge against current and future droughts. "We were so close to running out of water during the last drought. It was frightening," said Joshua Haggmark, interim water resources manager. "Desalination wasn't a crazy idea back then." Removing salt from ocean water is not a far-out idea, but it's no quick drought-relief option. It takes years of planning and overcoming red tape to launch a project. Santa Barbara is uniquely positioned with a desalination plant in storage. But getting it humming again won't be as simple as flipping a switch."

Comments

Re:now I never looked into it

[Anonymous Coward]

Now I never really looked into it, but it sounds easy. Too bad the people working on this aren't as smart as me.

Re:And with that yoiu get POWER!

[Thud457]

easy, you merely convert the unwanted removed salt to energy. duh!

Re:It's because I moved from California.

[bobbied]

I could always predict when it would rain when I lived in Los Angeles. It was always the day I decided I would go to the beach.

So PLEASE move back to LA and plan to spend your first month on the beach...