Pasadena Independent from Pasadena, California • Page 74

D-10-NEW YEAR'S EDlTIOKl-1961 rf Iitlook run tcv Biggest Use of Pacific Ocean to Meet Public Needs Inevitable; Test Scheduled By U.S. Senator Clair Engle The biggest water reservoir on earth is the Pacific Orean. Its use as a public water supply is inevitable, probably sooner than most of us think. Just how soon is a question to be answered in part by the test denion- slration plant soon to be constructed by the federal government on Point Loma in San Diego. The conversion of salt water and brackish water to usable fresh water has been dreamed about for centuries.

The process of distillation was known to the Greeks and to the Egyptians, but they used it to obtain salt and to purify minerals like mercury rather than to get fresh water. Real scientific progress in saline water conversion is relatively recent. Dutch, British Pioneer Research Since World War fl the Dutch and British have pioneered in basic research and in the operation of some small plants. United' Stales governments first activity toward promoting the development of large-scale saline water conversion began in 1952, when the Congress passed my bill, which became known at the Saline Water Act. I was then chairman of the Irrigation and Reclamaiion Subcommittee of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and had become concerned the long-range water supply outlook for our country.

The bill as finally adopted declared it to be the policy of the Government: (o provide the de- velo-pmenl of practicable low-cost means oj producing jrom sea water, or from other saline waters: water of a quality suitable for agriculture, industrial, municipal, and other beneficial consumptive uses on a scale sufficient to determine the feasibility of the. development of such production and distribution on a large- scale basis, for the purpose of conserving and increasing the water resources oj the Nation." This act established the Office of Saline Water'vinder the Department of the Interior. It authorized the ap- prbpriation of $2 million for a five-year period during which the Secretary of the Interior was directed: la) to conduct research and technical development work hy a research grants and contracts, to make engineering studies to ascertain the lowest investment and operation costs, and to determine the best plant designs and conditions of operation: (b) to study the recovery and possible commercial uses of the byproduct; (c) to acquire necessary processes and facilities; (d) to engage scientific person- nel, and any educational institution, scientific organization, or or engineering firms to do any part of the research, and to correlate and coordinate the results of the research; and (e) to cooperate with other agencies and' firms in effectuating the purpose of the act. Five Years Not Enough Afler three years it became apparent that Ihe five- year i i a enough to finish the research already under way and to reach any reasonable conclusion. Accordingly, I introduced another bill in the 84th Congress to extend the research program.

i bill, i was passed in 1955, increased the total authorization of federal expenditure from $2 million to S10 million, provided for expanded research including the construction pilot plants, and extended the a from fiscal year 1953 gh fiscal 1963. National interest in the saline water studies continued to broaden. As chairman of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, I arranged for a series of a i on the subject, which were held between April 1957 and August 1958. It was quite obvious that the Congress was dissatisfied with the speed of the program. Many congressmen and senators were critical of the limited concept and narrow scope of the work undertaken by the Department of the Interior up to that time and a whole series at bills were introduced in both houses to move the program out of the laboratory and get it into a large-scale demons a i plant operation.

Among these were my bill and one by Senator Clinton Anderson of New Mexico. Senator Anderson's bill finally was approved in September 1958. It provided a second $10 milion authorization for the construction and operation of live saline water demonstration plants to prove, under full-scale operation, the engineering and economic feasibility of the most promising processes developed in the research laboratories. West Coast Site to Be Selected The law provided that three of the plants should be designed for the conversion of sea water--one each on the West Coast, the East Coast and the Gulf Coast-and two for he treatment of brackish water, one to be located in the northern Great Plains and the other in the arid Southwest. That is the program now under way.

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Locations have been selected for all but the West Coast plant. The plants and processes are as follows: WEST COAST--Multi-stage flash distillation process, at a capacity of at least one million gallons per day, to be located at a 40-acre federal tract on the ocean side of Point Loma in San Diego. This site was selected after considering applications from more than 20 cities in California, a Washington. A $102,000 contract for design of the plant was awarded to the Fluor Corporation of Whittier, California. Bids for construction are in process.

The estimated federal cost is about 51,700,000. The California Legislature has appropriated 31,600,000 for cooperative assistance by the state in the Point Loma development. The City of San Diego is i about 5250,000 on access roads and a pipeline to deliver the fresh water to the city system. After considerable nego- i a i with the Navy, in connection with its atomic submarine base in San Diego Harbor, it has been decided that the Point Loma plant will be operated by a conventional steam power plant. Jt originally had been expected that the power for the operation of this plant would he provided by an atomic reactor to be built by the Atomic Energy Commission.

Texas Plant. Will Be Built First GULF COAST--Long-tube vertical multiple-effect distillation process, also at a capacity of one million gallons a day, to be located at Freeport, Texas. This will be the first one to be completed; a $1,246,000 contract i construction a a a to the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company and work is now under way at Freeport. EAST COAST Direct freezing process, at a capacity of between 100,000 to 350,000 gallons per day, depending upon pilot plant tests now being conducted by several private companies under contract with the government. The site has not yet been selected for this plant, for i 12 cities from Maine to Florida are still under consideration, from among 52 applications.

GREAT PLAINS Eleclrodialysis membrane process for brackish water conversion, at a capacity of 250,000 gallons a day, to be located at Webster, South Dakota. Bids for construction are in process. SOUTHWEST Forced- circulation a oom- ession i i a i for brackish water conversion, at a capacity of 250,000 gallons per day, to be located at Roswell, New Mexico. It is likely that the AEC reactor originally planned at Point Loma will be built instead to operate tiie Roswell plant. Additional Legislation Additional legislation to expand and extend the saline water conversion program was considered this year by the S6th Congress.

1 was co-author with Senator Gordon Allot! of Colorado and others of legislation to accelerate the research and demonstration program, and to provide federal financial assistance to slates and municipalities in constructing sea a or brackish water conversion plants to produce fresh water for municipal, industrial or domestic use. This bill was superseded in committee by a similar measure, which passed the Senate on June 24, but failed to get Committee approval in the House. It will be reintro- WATER: SCR P. 1)11 money in the bank Quality is inseparable from and in home construction, is indispensable to living: comfort and pride of ownership. Quality never costs any only be demanded by an exacting buyer who insists that "NOTHING ELSE IS JUST AS GOOD" am Jwclz lk LATH AND I SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PF-ASTKRINC INSTITUTK 315WcslNim1iSircci Los Angeles 15, California.