Water News Network
As the worst drought in 1,200 years grips the West, the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant is protecting the San Diego region with 50 million gallons a day of drought-proof water.
Completed in 2015, the plant was built before the period of increasing inflation that’s driving up prices for water infrastructure projects that are just starting. That means the desal plant is safeguarding the region’s economy and quality of life today at a lower cost than it would be to build now.                                                                                        Read more. 

TIMES OF SAN DIEGO
By Chris Jennewein 
CARLSBAD - The San Diego County Water Authority said Tuesday production has been cut back at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant to conserve electricity and prevent rolling blackouts during the statewide heat wave.

​The plant operated by Poseidon Water relies on electricity to convert seawater to drinking water, using a lot of power still but less than 1% of the peak energy demand in the San Diego Gas & Electric service area.
Starting Monday, the plant reduced output, making an additional 8 megawatts of power available for other uses. Further load reduction is possible if necessitated by the heat wave.

Carlsbad Desalination Plant Improves Sustainability

Carlsbad, Calif. (July 22, 2020) –  New fish-friendly seawater intake pumps recently commissioned at the Carlsbad Desalination Plant are among the most environmentally advanced intake pumps in the world.
 
The three intake pumps, manufactured by Indar, are part of a broader effort to ensure the long-term health of the marine environment near the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, which sits on the shores of Agua Hedionda Lagoon.

LOS ANGELES TIMES
By PHIL DIEHL

Carlsbad — As of Friday, 10 workers are quarantined inside the Carlsbad desalination plant for the next three weeks, monitoring and adjusting gauges and switches, watching for leaks, and doing whatever is needed to safeguard San Diego County’s only significant local source of drinking water.
​“We asked some employees to be locked down at the plant for 21 days to isolate the risk of infection,” said Gilad Cohen, chief executive of IDE Americas, the global company that operates the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant and others around the world.
The request for volunteers was a precaution against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.