Premium
Industry News
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2008.tb09666.x
Subject(s) - brackish water , desalination , reverse osmosis , engineering , environmental science , environmental engineering , geology , salinity , oceanography , membrane , biology , genetics
This article announces that the 2008 Superior Achievement for Excellence in Environmental Engineering® Award went to the 27.5‐mgd Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant. Designed by CDM and Moreno Cardenas Inc. and jointly implemented by the El Paso (Texas) Water Utilities and the US Army base Fort Bliss, the award‐winning project applies advanced technologies to vast brackish water reserves beneath the desert floor, converting the brackish water into a sustainable drinking water supply for the city of El Paso and Fort Bliss. The $87‐million public‐private project treats the high‐salinity water using reverse osmosis membranes and uses deep‐well injection (a disposal technology common to the petroleum industry) to deposit the project's 3‐mgd concentrate stream. Powered by solar panels, the project's special surface injection facilities safely deposit the concentrate more than 3,500 ft below ground into geologic formations with no adverse environmental impact.