News Release Archive

Bureau of Reclamation Awards $3.62 Million for Desalination and Water Purification Research in 13 States

Media Contact: Peter Soeth, 303-445-3615, psoeth@usbr.gov

For Release: August 31, 2017

Desalination research being conducted at the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in New Mexico.WASHINGTON - Bureau of Reclamation Acting Commissioner Alan Mikkelsen announced today that Reclamation will provide $3.62 million to conduct laboratory and pilot-scale desalination and water purification research in 13 states.

Sixteen laboratory projects, four new pilot-scale projects and one continuing pilot-scale project were selected. The $3.62 million in federal funding is being matched by $3.52 million in non-federal funds.

"Desalination and water treatment provide a potential new source of water for communities throughout the West," Mikkelsen said. "The research funding provided today will enable new technologies to be studied to see if they can help improve the treatment of water."

The Desalination and Water Purification Research Program is helping Reclamation and its partners confront widening imbalances between supply and demand in basins throughout the Western United States through testing and development of new advanced water treatment technologies.   The DWPR Program focuses on three main goals: (1) augment the supply of usable water in the United States; (2) understand the environmental impacts of desalination and develop approaches to minimize these impacts relative to other water supply alternatives; (3) develop approaches to lower the financial costs of desalination so that it is an attractive option relative to other alternatives in locations where traditional sources of water are inadequate.

The laboratory projects in the following list are bench-scale studies that are completed within one year. Pilot-scale studies are bigger and are completed within two years. For more complete descriptions of the projects, see https://www.usbr.gov/research/dwpr/.

Laboratory-Scale Projects

California

Orange County Water District; Reclamation Funding: $149,894, non-federal Funding: $539,747

Connecticut

Yale University; Reclamation Funding: $150,000, non-federal Funding: $39,236

University of Connecticut; Reclamation Funding: $149,965, non-federal Funding: $16,560

Florida

University of South Florida; Reclamation Funding: $150,000, non-federal Funding: $0

Kansas

University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc.; Reclamation Funding: $54,802, non-federal Funding: $54,802

Massachusetts

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Reclamation Funding: $150,000, non-federal Funding: $0

Northeastern University; Reclamation Funding: $150,000, non-federal Funding: $5,000

Nebraska

University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Reclamation Funding: $147,217, non-federal Funding: $0

New Mexico

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; Reclamation Funding: $148,704, non-federal Funding: $73,242

New York

Research Foundation for the State University of New York; Reclamation Funding: $150,000, non-federal Funding: $37,503

North Carolina

University of North Carolina; Reclamation Funding: $144,438, non-federal Funding: $0

Oklahoma

University of Tulsa; Reclamation Funding: $144,396, non-federal Funding: $0

Pennsylvania

Saint Francis University; Reclamation Funding: $133,519, non-federal Funding: $0

GreenBlu, LLC; Reclamation Funding: $149,994, non-federal Funding: $149,998

Texas

Texas Tech University; Reclamation Funding: $144,696, non-federal Funding: $0

Wyoming

University of Wyoming; Reclamation Funding: $148,880, non-federal Funding: $0

Pilot-Scale Testing

California

Orange County Water District; Reclamation Funding: $249,966, non-federal Funding: $766,682

Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles; Reclamation Funding: $299,062, non-federal Funding: $300,000

Massachusetts

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Reclamation Funding: $199,000; non-federal Funding: $200,000

New Mexico

Regents of New Mexico State University; Reclamation Funding: $399,292; non-federal Funding: $399,292

Second- Year Continuing Pilot Scale Project from fiscal year 2016

California

Eastern Municipal Water District; Reclamation Funding: $200,000; non-federal funding: $1,876,688

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.