Desalination

Back in the late 1980’s, Newport News, along with other Peninsula cities and counties, concluded that the region would have to produce more drinking water in the near future to meet demand. It was decided that the region would implement a three-pronged future water supply plan that consists of increased conservation, groundwater development and a new reservoir. For Newport News, groundwater development meant drilling deep wells and pumping up brackish (slightly salty) groundwater. In order to remove the salt or desalinate, a process called reverse osmosis would be implemented.

Necessary permitting and studies were completed in 1993, wells were tested in 1995, and by 1998 a new desalination plant was online and capable of producing between 5 and 6 million gallons of water each day.

This technology comes at a cost. The process of reverse osmosis requires a great deal of electricity and that means it is more costly to desalinate than to treat water from the reservoirs. But it’s worth it - desalination helped us through the drought of 2002 when nearly all of Virginia was under mandatory water restrictions. As droughts continue to increase in frequency and duration, and the new King William Reservoir is years from groundbreaking, Waterworks is relying more and more on conservation and the desalination plant to help us meet demand.