From record December snowfall to now the driest three months beginning a new year in California history, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) declared emergency water conservation measures. There is simply not enough water from northern California sources as the multi-year megadrought continues. Both lack of precipitation and abnormally high temperatures are to blame. In parts of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties limits to "reduce nonessential water use" has been ordered (1). The implementation of IPHROS is a mitigation option. Utilizing renewable energy, IPHROS has potential to produce up to one billion gallons of clean water per day for southern California (2). And at the same time IPHROS provides energy storage and skilled jobs. For regulators concerned with coastal impact, the effluent brine from IPHROS is diluted with excess seawater. Or better yet, the brine is rich in key minerals used for EV battery technology. Rather than mine minerals such as lithium or cobalt from land or the seabed, it is possible to extract key minerals from brine (3).
Sources:
1. Washington Post article by Kasha Patel and Jason Samenow Apr 27, 2022.
2. MIT Open Access Articles. Alexander H. Slocum , Maha N. Haji, A. Zachary Trimble , Marco Ferrara, Sasan J. Ghaemsaidi, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dec 26, 2016.
3. Cornell University, Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Professor Maha Haji, Symbiotic Engineering and Analysis (SEA) lab website.
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