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SAWS Seawater Desalination Program

uilding on our achievements as a national leader in conservation and water supply management, San Antonio Water System plans to meet the city's water needs for the next 50 years by effectively managing our existing supplies while developing new water sources for the future. SAWS 2009 Water Management Plan includes an ocean water desalination supply project as a potential long-term strategy (2035 – 2060) for San Antonio.

What is desalination?

Desalination is the process of removing dissolved salts from water. The salt content of different water sources can vary greatly, making many sources too salty for drinking, like the water in the Gulf of Mexico, which contains more than 30,000 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids.

Similarly, water from many underground aquifers also can be too salty to drink. This type of water is called brackish groundwater. Along the Texas coast, brackish groundwater from the southern half of the Gulf Coast Aquifer contains about 1,000 to 3,000 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids. In comparison, SAWS drinking water contains less than 1,000 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids.

Project Overview

The Ocean Water Desalination program will explore the idea of treating the "salty" waters of the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas Coast for drinking water.

As SAWS moves forward a future step would be to acquire the services of a consultant to conduct an initial feasibility study to determine the viability and requirements for developing ocean desalination. With SAWS' assistance, the selected consultant will evaluate the Gulf of Mexico, along the Texas coast from Cameron County to Brazoria County, to identify the best possible locations for a future project.

When complete, the analysis will provide SAWS with information on the salinity of Gulf of Mexico water; potential project configuration, including plant location, pipeline routes, and energy requirements and sources; other entities that may have a future need for water; federal, state and local permit criteria; and other information to help further define the project and establish a basis for additional assessment.

Future Activities

If the feasibility study is favorable and a decision is made to move forward with the project, SAWS would issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) that contains a general scope of work and solicitation criteria. Consultants would submit their qualifications for evaluation, and a firm then would be selected to move forward with the project.

During the consultants' work, SAWS would periodically conduct outreach meetings throughout the study area to inform the public about the project, to discuss the study information and to identify future tasks. These outreach meetings would provide attendees an opportunity to ask questions and be kept informed on the project's progress.