U.S. Water News Online
TAMPA, Fla. -- Officials from Singapore to California are closely watching construction of a desalination plant in Tampa Bay, which will be the country's first functioning plant turning salt water into fresh water.
The prime minister of Singapore visited with a delegation to study the plant. Communities from Texas, California, and Florida's east coast have also shown interest, officials said.
``The plant in Tampa Bay has certainly spurred renewed interest, especially among policy-makers, to look at seawater desalination,'' said Bob Yamada, senior engineer for the San Diego County Water Authority.
The Tampa Bay plant is expected to produce 1,000 gallons of water for about $2, far below the industry standard.
``It's drawing attention from all quarters of the industry,'' said Richard Allen, editor of Water Desalination Reports, an industry newsletter. ``It's a new low-cost level. People are watching something like this.''
Scheduled for operation early in Jan. 2002, the new plant expected to produce 25 million gallons of water a day.
The plant has raised fears among environmental groups. They say they want strict monitoring of brine discharge from the plant into Tampa Bay with a shutdown clause if the discharge exceeds permitted levels.
Worldwide, 13,600 desalination plants produce 6.8 billion gallons of water daily. The two plants in the United States -- one in Santa Barbara and another in Key West -- sit idle and are used only for emergency supplies.
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