How many brackish groundwater desalination plants are currently in operation in Texas? How many seawater desalination plants?
There are 38 desalination plants in Texas with a design capacity of >0.025 million gallons per day (MGD) that are part of the public water supply (PWS) system. Collectively, these plants have a capacity of approximately 52 MGD. An additional 50 PWS desalination plants with a design capacity of <0.025 MGD each, produce less than 0.5 MGD (Nicot and others, 2006; 1.29 MB). Many of these are small units. At present, there are no seawater desalination plants in Texas although two pilot plant studies are currently being conducted in the lower Rio Grande Valley (Brownsville PUB and Laguna Madre Water District). It is likely that a full-scale plant will result from one of these studies.
