How is the water distributed?
Fiberglass pipelines will be used to transport the salt water from the filters into the five distillation plants. A few of the most common building materials for pipelines is concrete or ductile iron, but due to their low corrosive resistance, they cannot be used for piping salt water. Fiberglass possesses special physical qualities which make it a superior alternative to traditionally used pipe materials. Some of the attributes of fiberglass includes corrosion resistant, lightweight, durable and low maintenance cost. As mentioned before, concrete is highly corrosive and there is a high chance of leakage. Fiberglass is fully resistant to a broad range of aggressive corrosive chemicals. Furthermore, fiberglass pipes are durable and low-maintenance [12]. As a result, the cost of the piping will be reduced.
The selected process of delivering water to the end user is using underground storage facilities (USF). A USF is a facility that stores water in the aquifer through direct recharge. Using Infiltration (spreading) basins, water is spread out over a large surface area in the basins and allowed to infiltrate or seep into the alluvial material eventually reaching the aquifer. Typically, these areas are located adjacent to stream channels where infiltration rates are high due to the porous nature of the soils [10] .
Due to the large quantity of water that needs to infiltrate into the various groundwater aquifers throughout Arizona, there will be a need for allocation of a sizeable area of open land. Each acre of recharge infrastructure can recharge approximately 725 acre-feet of water per year (about 9 square miles), meaning that in order to recharge 4 million acre-feet of water each year there will need to be about 5,500 acres of land dedicated to recharge, split amongst the five desalination locations. The following table depicts the costs, and individual land needs by location for the creation of these facilities.
The other type of USF is called a Managed USF where water is discharged into a streambed and allowed to flow naturally down the channel without the assistance of any construction. Water infiltrates (percolates) into the aquifer below the stream channel [10] .
Placing recharge stations and evaporation ponds in proximity to the distillation plants presents new and unique challenges. Contamination of freshwater from the evaporation ponds should be avoided at all costs because of how difficult it can be to remove saltwater from an aquifer. In order for contamination to be prevented, several preventative measures can be made. The first of which will be to make it physically difficult for salts and carbonates to leave the evaporation ponds by constructing concrete barriers (much like an in-ground pool) and lining or coating them with impermeable plastic. In addition, the ponds will be made coverable with tents that move water away from the ponds, and into troughs that will direct water back into the distillation plant to be processed. Lastly, the evaporation ponds need to be distanced at opposite sides of the distillation plant from the recharge ponds, at minimum. It was previously discussed to have the evaporation ponds at a lower elevation than the recharge ponds, but this created two problems. The first of which is that this physically places the evaporation pond closer to the water table, while allowing room for water to collect in the pond that would inevitably increase evaporation time.
How effective are the Solar and Wind Farms?
Renewable energy technology has great potential. It will continue to progress and evolve providing new opportunities for development. New designs and modifications for increased power generation and efficiency in solar and wind are being research and implemented at a growing rate. [13]
For example, IBM just released information on a new type of solar collector called High Concentration Photo Voltaic Thermal (HCPVT). These mega concentrators take photovoltaic solar panels to a whole new level of efficiency and power generation. IBM scientists claim that this system can concentrate the power of 2000 suns; potentially 5000 suns. Another benefit is that it almost completely eliminates heat loss while not overheating due to microchannels that filter water through the system. The HCPVT has the capability to desalinate water but not at a high volume. Its strengths lie in energy generation. According to the IBM scientists, on an average 8 hour day in a sunny region, each 1cmx1cm chip can convert 50 watts with 80% efficiency [15][1] .
How are Costs Distributed?
Capital costs for construction can be divided into two categories of direct and indirect costs. The cost of these two categories can be estimated as a percentage of the total construction or labor cost and frequently the indirect amounts are at the mercy of the direct cost. This means that these values can fluctuate based on the type and size of the project. The second category of indirect costs may include construction overhead, freight and insurance, owner’s costs, and contingency costs [22].
How are Direct Costs Accounted for in Construction?
Firstly, the main direct costs is land which can contrast in price by a large margin conditional on the region. The type of projection wells and the surface water intake system can make a big difference in the construction cost as these require a specific skilled worker to install and maintenance. There are two types for equipment auxiliary and processes equipment. The process equipment includes instrumentation and controls, cleaning systems water treatment units, pre- and post-treatment units. These equipment costs are governed by on the feed water quality as well as the plant capacity. The auxiliary equipment is important because this includes generators, transformers, pipes, pumps storage tanks and electrical wiring. The cost of the buildings is another aspect of construction that is site specific but includes the construction of structures, control rooms, laboratories, offices and workshops. The method of waste disposal is also a big factor in construction costs because different plants may take advantage of different methods of disposal based on environmental regulations, location, and plant capacity and desalination technology [22].
How are indirect costs accounted for in Construction?
Secondly, the largest indirect costs is the construction overhead. This includes temporary facilities, construction equipment and small tools, labor costs, field supervision, fringe benefits, contractor’s profit and miscellaneous expenses. This cost is typically estimated as a percent of direct material and labor costs. Inversely freight and insurance cost is typically estimated as based on the total direct costs. Another indirect cost is that of the owner’s which includes administrative expenses, engineering design, land acquisition, contract administration, commissioning and/or startup costs, as well as legal fees. The last indirect cost is that of contingency and it is the cost of additional services that might be needed throughout the project and also is independent on the total direct costs [22].
How will we find additional revenue?
Income from California Trade Agreement In order to provide revenue for future expansion of desalination infrastructure and provide capital for operation and maintenance of the existing plants that we have designed, we plan on providing California’s Imperial Valley with 500,000 acre-feet of water each year. Due to the extreme stress that California’s water system is currently under, the price that they are willing to pay is very high, and can provide a large amount of revenue [6]. According to The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Los Angeles Beautification Team, California will pay at minimum $600 per acre-foot of untreated (post-treatment) irrigation quality water. At this rate, the project should make a revenue of $300,000,000 each year, which is substantial enough to offset the majority of operation and maintenance costs for all five facilities [7].
Stakeholder Funding Sources
Created as interdependent institutions, The NADB and BECC function as a team, working with communities and project sponsors to develop, finance and build affordable and self-sustaining projects with broad community support. Within this project development model, each institution is charged with specific responsibilities, with BECC focusing on the technical aspects of project development, while NADB concentrates on project financing and oversight for project implementation. NADB offers direct financing in the form of loans and grants to public and private entities for the implementation of their projects. NADB verifies that the proposed projects are financially feasible and works closely with the sponsors and other funding partners to structure appropriate and affordable financing packages to meet the specific needs of each community and project. Funding from other sources in the form of grants, equity or co-financing is required as NADB generally cannot finance more than 85 percent of the eligible costs of a project [16] .
The National Infrastructure Fund (FONADIN) is the vehicle for coordination of the Government of Mexico for infrastructure development in the areas of communications, transportation, water, environment and tourism. The National Infrastructure Fund, warranties from its heritage in order to facilitate access to banking and securities financing infrastructure projects. Increased funding may be achieved if private-public ownership in achieved for this infrastructure. the capital investments for funding these projects will be possible assuming there is a feasibility of the proposed business plan or the project receives favorable opinion by the subcommittee on evaluations and financing [17].
•Supports the development of national infrastructure.
Search, maximize, and facilitate the mobilization of private capital for infrastructure projects.•Is a financial platform to promote the participation of public, private and social sector in infrastructure development.
•Take risks that the market is not willing to take.
•Search granting long-term financing on competitive terms.
How much do we currently pay for water in Arizona?
The current rates for domestic potable in a few cities around Arizona are in the table below.
Note: 1 Ccf = 748 gallons [4] [8] [3].
If we take the annual O&M cost and divide it by the number of gallons produced per year, we can get an idea of how cost efficient this process is. Since 0.5 MAF was intended to sell to California for 300,000,000 annually, we end up with $13.5/Ccf This puts the price of domestic water at 5 to 10 times the price of water, depending on what city. If a tiered system was structured as Tucson’s tiered system, the highest prices at over 30 Ccf would not be out of range.
How will we handle the waste?
The four plants of Yuma South, Yuma North, Buckeye, and Casa Grande produce approximately 34 hectares of waste per day. This waste will be divided up into multiple evaporation ponds at each site, using a rotation system to allow each pond to dry completely before more waste is added [2]. The dry waste will then be sold to companies for industrial uses, such as salt-crete, dust control, and salting of ice roads. The Gila Bend plant produces the smallest amount of waste and is near the Gila River, allowing the waste to be mixed with effluent and released into the river [19]. An man-made marsh will be constructed to filter the waste before it is released into the river. The marsh will contain halophytes, plants that naturally evolved to live on salt water and in arid environments, that will help filter the water of salt ions. The plant that has been chosen for the marsh is Salicornia europeae variety rubra, commonly known as Pickleweed. Pickleweed (S. europeae var. rubra) growing around Great Salt Lake is different from the coastal varieties due to its adaptation to this extremely saline environment [18]. The Pickleweed can then be harvested and sold to be processed as a biofuel.
How to Acquire Land On A Federal Level?
The type of land ownership, private or government owned, determines the processes to acquire the needed land to construct facilities and the infrastructure to bring the ocean to Arizona.
United States:
The federal government owns roughly 635-640 million acres, 28% of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States. Four agencies administer 609 million acres of this land: the Forest Service (USFS), The National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), all in the Department of the Interior (DOI). Most of these lands are in the West and Alaska. In addition, the Department of Defense administers 19 million acres in military bases, training ranges, and more. Numerous other agencies administer the remaining federal acreage [14].
The United States Code of federal regulations (CFR) Title 43, Public Lands: Interior, prescribe the requirements and restrictions to obtain federal land owned by the DOI [21].
Department of Defense Instruction 4165.70, Dated 6 April 2005, contains the directives for leasing of military land needed for the project [11].
Mexico:
The Mexican constitution of 1917, prohibited foreign ownership of residential real property within approximately 31 miles (approximately 50 km) of any coastline and 62 miles (approximately 100 km) of its natural borders. All of Baja California is included in this “restricted zone.” [9] .
In 1971, and further expanded in 1989 and 1993, provisions were made for a mechanism that would allow foreigners to own property in the “restricted zone.” [9].
Within the “restricted zone,” a foreigner purchases the beneficial interest in real property through a bank trust or “fideicomiso.” In this bank trust, the buyer of the property is designed as the “fideicomisario” or the beneficiary of the trust. While legal title is held by the bank, (specifically the trustee of the trust or the “fiduciario,”) the trustee must administer the property in accordance with the instructions of the buyer (the beneficiary of the trust). The property is not an asset of the bank and the trustee is obligated to follow every lawful instruction given by the beneficiary to perform legal actions, i.e. rent it, make improvements, sell it, etc. As long as the foreign buyer of the property adheres to laws and ordinances of Mexico and agrees not to invoke the protection of the government of his country, he may exercise the same rights as a Mexican national with regard to the use of his property [9] .
•Land for Development / Commercial / Industrial Information
•Foreigners may freely purchase land for development on the same basis as a Mexican national outside of the restricted zone, provided they give a "calvo clause" declaration to the Foreign Ministry that they will consider themselves as nationals with respect to the property, and not invoke the protection of their foreign government.
•If the property is not for residential purposes, foreigners may, on the same basis, purchase land in the restricted zone outside of a Mexican trust.
•Zoning and planning is required on state and municipal levels and encompasses sanitation, planning, zoning, commercial, residential and industrial use compliance [9].
References
[2] Ahmed, M; Shayya, WH; Hoey, D; Mahendran, A; Morris, R; Al-Handaly, J 2000, ‘Use of evaporation ponds in brine disposal for desalination plants’, Desalination, vol.130, no. 2, pp. 155-168. Available from: ScienceDirect. [4 April 2015].
[3] Anon, Arizona Water Meter: A Comparison of Water Conservation Programs in 15 Arizona Communities. City Of Yuma. Available from: http://www.westernresourceadvocates.org/water/azmeter/yumasumm.pdf [Accessed April 14, 2015].
[4] Anon, Potable Water Rates. Potable Water Rates. Available from: http://www.tucsonaz.gov/water/potable-rates [Accessed April 14, 2015].
[5] Anon, Tonopah Desert. Central Arizona Project. Available from: http://www.cap-az.com/index.php/departments/recharge-program/tonopah-desert [Accessed April 15, 2015].
[6] Anon, Water Supply Challenges and Solutions. Water Supply Challenges And Solutions. Available from: http://hbteam.org/water-conservation/la-water-supply-challenges-and-solutions/ [Accessed April 14, 2015] .
[7] Anon, 2014. Water Rates and Charges. Water Rates And Charges. Available from: http://www.mwdh2o.com/mwdh2o/pages/finance/finance_03.html [Accessed April 14, 2015].
[8] Anon, Arizona Water Meter: A Comparison of Water Conservation Programs in 15 Arizona Communities. City Of Phoenix. Available from: http://www.westernresourceadvocates.org/water/azmeter/phoenixsumm.pdf [Accessed April 14, 2015].
[9] Arizona Department of Real Estate, Buying Real Estate in Mexico (A Consumer’s Guide) 2011. Available from http://www.re.state.az.us/PublicInfo/Documents/Consumer_Guide_MEX.pdf [1 April 2015]
[10] Arizona Water Banking Authority, Recharge and Facilities 2015. Available from http://www.azwaterbank.gov/Water_Storage/Recharge_and_Facilities.htm [12 April 2015]
[11] Department of Defense, Real Property Management, Instruction number 4165.70 2005. Available from http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/416570p.pdf [9 April 2015]
[12] El-Khadem, S., 2010. “Experience with GRP Pipe in Desalination Plants and Cooling Systems Past Experience and Current trends. Saad El-Khadem [Online]. Available from: http://www.levantdesal.org/pdf/experiencewithgrppipeindesalinatoinplantsandcoolingsystemssaadelkhadem.pdf [Accessed April 15, 2015].
[13] Falling cost of concentrated solar power, 2015. Available from: http://energy.gov/eere/sunshot/concentrating-solar-power [4 April 2015]
[14] Gorte, RW, Vincent, CH, Hanson, LA, & Rosenblum, MR 2012, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data. Congressional Research Service, Washington D.C. [8 April 2015]
[15] IBM 2013, Made in IBM Labs: Collaboration Aims to Harness the Energy of 2,000 Suns. Available from: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/40912.wss. [8 April 2015]
[16] NADB-North American Development Bank, Mission 2012. Available from http://www.nadbank.org/about/mission.asp [9 April 2015]
[17] The National Infrastructure Fund, About us 2008. Available from
[18] People.westminstercollege.edu, (2015). Pickleweed. [online] Available at: http://people.westminstercollege.edu/faculty/tharrison/gslplaya99/pickleweed.htm [Accessed 10 Apr. 2015].
[19] Poulson, TK 2010, ‘Central Arizona Salinity Study’, American Water Works Association Annual Conference and Exposition 2010, Available from: Scopus. [30 March 2015].
[20] Solar Energy Development Programmatic EIS 2014, Solar Resource Data and Maps. Available from:
[21] U.S. Government Publishing Office, Electronic Code Of Federal Regulations 2015, Available from http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title43/43cfr2930_main_02.tpl [10 April 2015]
[22] Younos, T. (2005). The Economics of Desalination. JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY WATER RESEARCH & EDUCATION, [online] 132(1), pp.39-45. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1936-704X.2005.mp132001006.x/pdf [Accessed 15 Mar. 2015].