The Role of Water Treatment in Increasing Water Supplies

Yuliana Porras-Mendoza – Advanced Water Treatment Coordinator

Katie Guerra – Chemical Engineer

Benefits of Desalination

Photo credit: livescience.com, irabel8 / Shutterstock.com

Mitigate supply risks

Provide local control of water

supplyDiversify water supply portfolio

Effective for large and small

communities

Application Challenges• Cost (Capital and O&M)• Operational complexity• Environmental impacts• Public perception

New technologies and research advancements can help

overcome these barriers!

Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility

Supply 4 different brackish water sources

Abundant solar resource Outdoor test pads Laboratory facility 3+ years of meteorological data

Internal and External Research Studies• Science & Technology (S&T) ~$2m in FY17

– Funds Reclamation researchers– Competitive program, open to external partnerships– New call for FY18; proposal currently under review

• Desalination and Water Purification Research (DWPR) ~$5m in FY17– Competitive program

• laboratory scale• pilot scale, and • demonstration scale

– Funds nationwide applicants– O&M of BGNDRF in Alamogordo, NM

NMSU Collaboration

Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility,

Alamogordo, NM

• NMSU– Competitive R&D by NMSU faculty– Inter-disciplinary “Directed Research”

project

• Reclamation– Collaboration with Reclamation scientists

and engineers– Use BGNDRF and staff support

• Community/Stakeholders– Identify local challenges that can be solved

with non-traditional water supplies

S&T AWT – Pitch to Pilot Seeking innovative water treatment technologies at the pilot scale

Phase I: 15 page white paper

Phase II: In-person “pitch” at BGNDRF in Alamogordo, NM

Received 12 applications, awarded three $100k awards

8

Learn more at www.usbr.gov/research/challenges

Authorized by the America COMPETES Act of 2010 (15 USC 3719)

Prize CompetitionsLaunched December 2016

Arsenic Sensor Challenge

More Water, Less Concentrate Challenge

Brackish Groundwater Collaboration with USGS

Interactive map-based tool to evaluate brackish groundwater sources for common beneficial uses

Katie Guerra303-445-2013kguerra@usbr.gov

Thank You

Yuliana Porras Mendoza303-445-2265yporrasmendoza@usbr.govwww.usbr.gov/research/dwpr