Poseidon Water, LLC and the Carlsbad Desalination Project were featured in an article in the Sacramento Bee written by deputy editorial page editor Mariel Garza titled “Desalination Comes of Age.” Excepts of the column include:

“In the midst of the worst drought of our lifetimes, the state’s lakes and reservoirs are at historically low levels. Wells are going dry across the Central Valley, and there are communities that have no water. Not a drop, to drink or otherwise.

“Even in water-flush times, seawater desalination has been heralded as the obvious solution to the West’s inevitable droughts. How hard can it be to remove salt from water? Nature does it all the time.

The once-fanciful idea of sticking a straw into the ocean is no longer a pipe dream, thanks to a convergence of new technology and, let’s face it, grim desperation.

“As of last year, Metropolitan provided only 46 percent of the San Diego’s water. Initially, that meant securing water from the Colorado River, while taking steps to conserve water. By 2020, San Diego expects that 30 percent of its water will come from Metropolitan. Who says getting mad never gets you anywhere?

The way the district will get to that 2020 goal is twofold: water recycling – the current drought making it harder for Southern Californians to turn up their noses at “toilet-to-tap” water sources – and desalination.

“The desalination plant is scheduled to open next fall and will immediately produce the equivalent of 10 percent of the county’s water, or about 50 million gallons.

“When [the plant] opens for business next fall, it will be the largest desalination facility in the Western Hemisphere and will likely become a destination vacation for officials from other cities and counties looking to start their own desalination projects. That might be sooner rather than later. In the $7.5 billion water bond on the Nov. 4 ballot, $1.54 billion is set aside for projects across the state that that make better use of the resources we have, including desalination.

“Reverse osmosis is what made the plant viable for San Diego, and likely will do the same for other parched California communities. It is a more efficient way to desalt seawater than the old evaporative method, especially with the energy-saving gizmos patented by the experts in this business, the Israelis.

All Californians must know by now that drinkable water is no longer cheap. But it can be plentiful, for those desperate enough to reframe that old lament: Water, water everywhere, and every drop to drink.”

  You can read the full story here.