The promise and pitfalls of desalination
California needs to diversify its water supply as the West dries up. How much can desalination help?
CARLSBAD STATE BEACH is a Southern California idyll. Palm trees adorn the cliffs above the sand, and surfers paddle out for the waves. From the beach it is impossible to tell that a huge desalination plant not half a mile away is sucking in seawater to produce 50m gallons of new drinking water each day. It is the largest in America—for now. Soon it may share that title with a proposed sister plant 60 miles (97km) north in Huntington Beach. But only if that one is built.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Hold the salt”
United States April 2nd 2022
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- Los Angeles provides every first-grader with cash for college
- The promise and pitfalls of desalination
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From the April 2nd 2022 edition
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