California American Water has been awarded a research grant of $330,400 from the WateReuse Research Foundation to study the pathogen level removal during collection of ocean water for desalination through sub-surface slant wells.
Out of the total grant amount, $200,000 will be contributed by the WateReuse Research Foundation.
The research will be conducted at the test slant well, being constructed in Monterey County, California, by California American Water.
The effects of drought and climate change have created demand for desalination technology. The science produced by this study will help define guidelines for water treatment when ocean water is collected through the environmentally-preferred approach of subsurface intakes, explained American Water authorities.
Slant wells are drilled to draw ocean water through layers of sand for purification of ocean water thereby avoiding the impacts to marine life associated with traditional open ocean intakes.
The sand acts as a filter that can lessen the amount of bacteria removal and the project will focus on human pathogens to see what level of treatment is achieved through the slant wells and further what steps will need to be taken to ensure pathogens are removed.
Slant wells are known for their benefits to marine life, with possibilities of providing pathogen reduction benefits. In that case, there could be significant savings in pre- and post-treatment costs for desalination projects that employ slant well technology, said, Rich Svindland, director, Engineering, California American Water.
Because this question has yet to be studied, the findings will be extremely valuable for water resource managers and policy makers across the country, he added.
The test well being constructed by California American Water will help determine the feasibility of slant wells on California’s Central Coast.
California American Water supplies water to the Monterey Peninsula communities, opting desalination as part of a method to solving the area’s water shortage.
State Water Resources Control Board and the California Coastal Commission favor the slant well technology.
Recently, they received a $1 million grant from the California Department of Water Resources to help fund the installation of the test well.
The research project team will consist of Bukhari as the principal investigator, with American Water’s Patrick K. Jjemba and Elaine Howe of Trussell Technologies as co-principal investigators.
Sabeena Wahid
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