Publication: L.A. Times

UCLA Expert: Yoram Cohen: Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Professor, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Synopsis: For decades, environmentalists have decried ocean desalination as an ecological disaster, while with a lofty price tag, but as the Southwest barrels into a new era of extreme heat, drought and aridification, officials and conservationists are giving new consideration to the process. 

UCLA News:  Cohen is running a pilot program of small-scale, remotely run desalination units in the Salinas Valley, where groundwater is often contaminated. “You use the same technology of desalination, which is basically reverse-osmosis membranes, and that takes out the salt but it also takes out the nitrates [and] other contaminants that may be in the water as well, such as pesticides,” Cohen said. The desalination units fit in small sheds and can treat up to 4,000 gallons a day — enough for a very small rural community that may not have the funds or resources needed to connect to a larger municipal system. The process does create some residual contaminants, but it’s less than that of desalted seawater and can be disposed of in septic tanks. Cohen said it’s a promising solution not only for remote areas, but pretty much anywhere in the state. “What we’re looking for is a technology to increase our water portfolio — whether it’s for removing salt, whether it’s for taking water that we can just purify and then use,” he said.

Read more at L.A. Times.