Water, Water

The nation's most ambitious project for converting salt water into fresh water was dedicated last week at Freeport, Texas. From the Gulf of Mexico more than 1,000,000 gallons of sea water will be pumped daily to a $1,246,000 plant being built by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. Plant's purpose: to produce potable water by a distillation process for $1 or less per 1 ,000 gallons, the lowest cost anywhere in the world.

The Freeport plant is part of a $10 million U.S. Government project to prepare for the world's fast-growing demands for more fresh water. Today the U.S. uses 312 billion gallons a day, will need 600 billion gallons a day in 1980. In other parts of the world the thirst for sweet water is immeasurably greater.

Where will the world find the water?

The answer lies in finding economical ways for converting salt and brackish water into fresh water. To rind the best methods the U.S. is building five demonstration plants across the nation, each using a different system of making fresh water. The first plant at Freeport will be followed by a plant designed by the Fluor Corp. at Point Loma in San Diego. It will produce 1,000,000 gallons a day, using atomic energy as the heat source for distillation. Its goal: water at a cost of 42-c- per 1,000 gallons.

Most U.S. cities now pay about 25-c-to 35-c- per 1,000 gallons for their water, and the Government's aim is to find a method that will convert brackish or salt water at the same price. Other plants in the program are scheduled to be built at Webster, S. Dak., Roswell, N. Mex. and on the East Coast.

In each of the five plants the Government hopes to develop the most efficient method to meet the needs of a particular area. Since the Government's project started eight years ago, the cost of converting sea water has dropped steeply from around $5.00 per 1,000 gallons to about $1.75. Says Dr. A. L. Miller, director of the office of saline water: "For the future, conversion of salt water may be more important to the arid areas of the world than getting a man to the moon."

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