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1. It starts with seawater used for cooling the Encina Power Station.
   
   
2. The seawater is piped through a series of filters to remove microscopic impurities.
   
   
3. Chemicals are added for further purification and the water is sent through a reverse osmosis (RO) system, a series of filtration membranes that removes the salt and any remaining impurities.
   
   
4. One of every two gallons of processed seawater becomes ultra high quality fresh water.
   
   
5. The other gallon is used to carry the salts removed in the RO process to the seawater discharged from the power plant as it returns to the ocean.
   
   

The Desalination Facility is proposed to be located adjacent to the Encina Power Station on a parcel currently occupied by a surplus tank.

When fully operational, the proposed Desalination Facility will have the capacity to deliver up to 50 million gallons per day (MGD) of reverse osmosis (RO) product water to Carlsbad Municipal Water District, neighboring agencies and/or the San Diego County Water Authority. The proposed facilities include an intake pump station and pipeline, desalination plant, product water storage, concentrate discharge pipeline, wastestream treatment facilities and pipelines, transformers and substation, and a product water pump station.

Source water for the Project will come from the once-through non-contact seawater in the existing cooling water system at the Encina Power Station. [photo insert D-1] Up to 104 MGD of seawater would be diverted from the combined outlet of the power station condensers and piped to the desalination facility. The source water will be pre-treated and filtered through RO membranes to produce high-quality drinking water.

The by-product of the RO treatment process is water with twice the salt content of seawater. This saline by-product will be diluted with the return flow from the power plant cooling water system prior to discharge to the Pacific Ocean.

The desalination facility will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This facility will produce water continuously and will be staffed at all times.

There are two preliminary pipeline routes under sonsideration for transporting the desalinated water to Carlsbad and the surrounding area; one follows Cannon Road to Faraday Avenue to Melrose Drive; and the other follows Cannon Road alignment to College Boulevard. The final pipeline alignment will be determined after the Project Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is certified.

To Learn More

International Desalination Association

American Membrane Technologies Association

Poseidon Resources Corporation