A water district serving parts of the Conejo Valley, and a company are teaming up to test technology which may provide another approach to dealing with the global water crisis.
They are trying a system intended to convert sea water to drinkable water without the large, expensive infrastructure used to operate desalination plants now. The proposed facilities would operate underwater, from the ocean's floor.
"We're taking the reverse osmosis process and putting it into the depth of the ocean, where we are able to leverage the natural pressure (the weight of the ocean) to drive the reverse osmosis process," said Kayln Simon, who is the Director of Engagement for OceanWell. It's the company developing what they are calling “Blue Water Farm” technology
The desalination systems would operate beneath the ocean’s surface at a depth where there's less sea life, which would reduce potential impacts. It would be about 400 meters below the ocean's surface.
But, one of the key stages in development of the technology is testing it in a way that’s easy to collect data. That’s where the water district comes into the picture. The idea is that a version of the system will be tested in the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District reservoir.
"The pilot in the reservoir is to do sort of a stress test on it," said Mike McNutt, who is with the water district, which serves Conejo Valley communities like Westlake Village and Agoura Hills.
"If this (the technology) were to come to pass, it would supply about 15% of our water needs." said McNutt.
The district is completely reliant state water project water, but it’s trying to develop new sources.
The federal government thinks the technology is promising. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation awarded the project $236,000 for the Las Virgenes test efforts. The technology could also potentially be used to clean other raw water sources besides sea water to make it drinkable water.
Simon said they understand some people may have concerns about the potential environmental impacts of the technology. She said as development continues, they will work to make sure the public understands it, and is comfortable with it.
The planned Las Virgenes effort is part of a series of projects leading up to full scale ocean testing. The goal is to have it ready for ocean use in about five years.
