Water For Algae Farms
The earth will never experience a real water shortage
because over 70% of the earth's surface is covered by the oceans of the
world—the
average ocean depth is greater than two miles. The volume of water in the
oceans is large enough to cover the world's continents with seawater to
a depth of five miles (of course the oceans would then be nearly empty,
and gravity would not allow such a thing, but the image does prove the
point).
With modern desalination technology, solar energy, man-made aqueducts and
giant solar pumps, human civilization will never run out of water.
Water For Algae Farms describes a plan for the construction
of public seawater aqueducts, pipelines and canals to distribute seawater
from
the ocean
to
arid and drought susceptible regions of the United States. The desalination
of the seawater will be done at the destination, using solar energy to
power the desalination equipment.
Energy production requires water, lots of water. Much of the Southwestern
United States is arid, lacking a natural water supply. Yet these regions
have an abundance of sunshine. Solar energy and seawater make a good combination
for the production of electricity, desalinated water, and biofuels.
Compared to the coastal regions, the deserts of Southern California
and much of Arizona and Nevada remain unpopulated. These
desolate
regions are dry, yet have an abundance of sunshine. Add water
and you would have a beautiful warm place to live.
The Salton
Sea, located south of the famous Death
Valley in the desert region of Southern California, is over 200 feet
below sea level. The United States could provide unlimited water to the
southwestern deserts if the federal government would build a canal between
the Pacific Ocean and the Salton Sea.
For example, the United States could negotiate a treaty with Mexico
for a permanent right-of-way to build a canal to the Gulf
of California (Sea
of Cortés). The canal could be made large enough to provide an
inland waterway that would transport large commercial barges between
the
Gulf of California and the Salton Sea; creating an inland harbor near
the city of Indio, with easy access to rail or truck transport into
Los
Angeles — a proposal that would benefit commerce on both sides
of the border and relieve commercial traffic congestion that exists
today at the various U.S. Mexico Border Crossings.
An alternative to a canal from the Gulf of California would be an aqueduct
directly from the Pacific Ocean near the city of San Diego. The water
could be pumped up to a storage reservoir in the Laguna Mountains. Then
the gravity potential of the reservoir could serve as a pumped hydro
storage
facility for peak time electricity generation. San Diego County could
receive as much as 500 mega-watts of peak time electrical power from
the
facility. During low electricity demand periods late at night, cheap
electricity would be used to pump ocean water from the Pacific up to
the Laguna reservoir.
Then, during the peak-time hours of the day, the stored ocean water would
be released from the reservoir and allowed to flow through a pipe down
to the Anza-Borrego Desert floor, located on the east side of the Laguna
Mountains, where the force of the water pressure would turn a conventional
hydro-electric generator. Then, after the sea water is released from
the hydro-electric water turbine it would flow through an
open canal to the Salton Sea, which is at a lower elevation than the
Anza-Borrego Desert floor.
The implementation of either proposal would give the inland desert access
to an unlimited supply of water from the Pacific Ocean.
The United States could then build a canal between the Salton Sea and
Death Valley to create a second inland saltwater sea, supplying water
to the northern parts of the Southern California desert. The floor of
Death Valley is almost 300 feet below sea level (at Badwater basin) and
it is recognized as the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere and one
of the hottest places on earth. 134 degrees F. was recorded in 1913, second
only to the 136 degrees registered in Libya in 1936.
Additional saltwater aqueducts extending from these two inland saltwater
seas into Arizona and Nevada would provide water
to
the arid and remote regions of those states.
Solar energy would power the desalination at the local destination.
A network of saltwater aqueducts, powered by solar energy pumps, throughout
the deserts of California, Arizona and Nevada could provide
saltwater to desert farms, ranches and rural homes, encouraging families
to relocate to these areas. Each family could have their own solar energy
system for saltwater desalination and the production of electricity.
If public seawater distribution pipes are combined with public funded
fiber optic cable, then high-speed internet access could be distributed
free of charge to the rural families, allowing home schooling
via interactive video classrooms instructed by remote teachers. Rural
families could be spread across millions of acres of the southwest, giving
people
the
pleasure
of a
quiet
country life without sacrificing the enjoyment of access to modern internet
telephone services, online libraries, shopping, medical help, etc.
A canal between the Gulf of California and the Salton Sea, or an aqueduct
directly from the Pacific Ocean would provide a constant inflow of fresh
seawater. By using the Salton Sea as a transfer reservoir, the constant
movement of water into and out of the inland sea would prevent water stagnation
and enable the management of the sea level to keep it constant. With the
Salton Sea restored to its full potential as a desert oasis the region
would become the desert resort that was envisioned by Real Estate developers
in the 1960’s.
The function of the transfer reservoir would insure that the Salton
Sea water is continuously moving, causing the new supply of incoming
ocean water
to dilute the
salty reservoir water, keeping the salinity level equal to that of the
Pacific ocean. Engineers would design the flow of water, in-and-out of
the reservoir, in such a way
as to solve the problem of increasing levels of salinity caused
by evaporation.
If a second inland sea was created in Death Valley, then another Real
Estate oasis would be developed north of Palm Springs. And, if the California
legislature created an exclusive economic zone around each inland sea,
and legalized gambling within the exclusive zones, the state gaming revenue
would give the State of California a positive cash flow. And, if the
special
legislation required that all water consumed within the economic zones
be from desalinated
seawater and all electricity be generated from concentrated
solar energy combined with thermal
storage technology to insure 24 hour service, then the new gambling
industry would produce both state revenue and a market for advanced solar
energy and desalination technology.
The purpose of the two inland sea transfer reservoirs is to supply ocean
water to desert energy farms; large saltwater algae
ponds or other
concepts for alternative energy production. Farmers would need technology
at the large algae ponds to desalinate some of the ocean
water to produce
freshwater
for
diluting the saltwater in the pond as evaporation causes the pond to
become
more salty.
The huge quantity of minerals, salt, and brine removed from the ponds
by desalination would need to be collected and used as feedstock for
the creation of a new industry that would process the salt and brine
and other minerals into usable by-products. The salt, mineral and brine
produced from desalination cannot be allowed to drain back into the main
reservoirs or into the algae ponds. The minerals and salt will need to
be processed and recycled as separate materials; or, pumped back into
the depths of the Pacific Ocean.
The military, the banking industry, and all city and state emergency
services have contingency plans. These are detailed plans for what to
do in response to a natural disaster or terrorist attack. Does the United
States have a contingency plan for responding to the worst case scenario
predicted by global climate change scientists? Global warming is a wild
card in our economic future.
If the level of the ocean rises and floods our coastal cities, forcing
the populations of western and eastern seacoasts, including portions of
Florida and Louisiana to relocate, or a severe prolonged drought occurs,
reducing the Colorado River water supply to a fraction of its current
level, what is the plan?
Water For All would give the United States a contingency plan,
while supplying millions of acres of desert land with water needed for
open pond algae farms.
References:
About the Salton Sea
Seawater Desalinization
Solutions to Membrane Fouling
Visit these web sites:
U.S. Desalination and Water Purification Research Program
73 million-gallon-per-day
reverse osmosis Yuma Desalting Plant
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