The merits of desalination

I am deeply troubled about what many refer to as “Nazi Environmentalists” controlling our environment with their fictitious opposing statements concerning Carlsbad’s desalination plant. Is their real motive loss of power, not the environment?

I worked for the Naval Ship R&D Lab, Annapolis, MD, for 10 years. This lab performed R&D on shipboard sewage disposal processes and desalination processes. I was a GS 13, Chemical Engineer specializing in sewage and water problems. I personally worked hands-on and/or rode submarines, aircraft carriers, etc.

Fast attack (diesel) destroyers and the old diesel submarines use reverse osmosis to produce potable water from seawater. New nuclear subs, all aircraft carriers, and other seagoing navy ships use distillation and/or vacuum distillation to produce super pure, extremely low cost, potable water containing less than 1 ppm total solids.

These processes are all called desalination. Hundreds of naval ships/submarines (and cruise ships) enter and leave San Diego’s harbors monthly while actively using their desalination processes. Dead fish are not seen floating belly up in San Diego’s harbors due to ship/submarine desalination.

Almost four-fifths of the earth’s surface is seawater, consequently, the dilution factor eliminates, instantaneously, any harmful concentrations of seawater to fish caused by any desalination processes. It is an invented problem by “Nazi” environmental opponents.

For 16 years, the SDCWA has failed miserably to solve the water shortage problem when desalination has always been available and is the solution. Is loss of power the real reason why desalination is being purposely trashed by the SDCWA?

Archie McPhee