1. A Desalination Success Story
Texas Groundwater Summit
August 29, 2012 - Austin, Texas
Ed Archuleta, P.E., President & CEO
El Paso Water Utilities

2. El Paso, Texas Profile
Sixth largest city in Texas
Located in the Chihuahuan
Desert
EPWU service area: 800,600
people
Over 300 days of sunshine,
sunshine,
70° average daily temperature
70°
Low humidity and average
rainfall of 9”-10” per year

3. Regional Water Resources
Elephant Butte Dam
UNITED STATES
NEW MEXICO
Hueco Bolson
Mesilla Bolson
EL PASO TEXAS
TEXAS
West Texas
Ciudad Juárez
Aquifers
MEXICO

4. Diversified Resources
50-Year Water Resource Management Plan adopted in 1991
Surface Reclaimed Conservation
Water Water
Groundwater Desalination Importation

5. Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant
Opened in 2007 to deal with:
Drought
Emergency situations
Growth
Brackish water intrusion

6. Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant
Award winning plant
A model for other
water utilities
Research facility
Toured by national
and international
visitors

7. Desalination Plant Details
Up to 27.5 MGD capacity
Raw water forced through membranes
to separate salts and contaminants
5 skids
Usually runs at 1-2 skids
Operated at full capacity for the first
time in May 2012

8. Reverse Osmosis Membrane Compared
to the Constituents
(Units of Microns)
H2O 0.0002m
NaCI 0.002m
Sugar 0.003m
Virus 0.1m
Bacteria 10m

9. Desalination Plant Water Quality
Blend Wells 1,000 ppm
To Distribution
System 700 ppm
Supply Wells 2,500 ppm Permeate
Concentrate 12,000 ppm

11. Concentrate Disposal
3 Injection Wells
Surface Injection
Facilities
Concentrate Pipeline
(22 mi)
Less costly and less
environmental impact
than evaporation

12. Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant Production
2,000,000
Unprecedented
1,800,000 Freeze & Reduction
of Surface Water
1,600,000
Thousand Gallons
Reduction of
Surface Water
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2012
Jan-July Projected

13. Million Gallons
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
1-May 160
2-May
3-May
4-May
5-May
6-May
7-May
8-May
9-May
Desalination Plant
10-May
11-May
12-May
13-May
14-May
15-May
16-May
17-May
18-May
19-May
20-May
21-May
Stored Pond Water
22-May
23-May
24-May
May – June 2012
25-May
26-May
Water Resources Used
27-May
28-May
29-May
Surface Water 30-May
31-May
1-Jun
2-Jun
3-Jun
4-Jun
5-Jun
6-Jun
7-Jun
8-Jun
Groundwater
9-Jun
10-Jun
11-Jun

14. Capital Costs
(21 Contracts)
Production Wells and Collectors $ 32 Million
Plant and Near-Plant Pipes $ 40 Million
Concentrate Disposal $ 19 Million
Total Cost $ 91 Million
Disposal
Production
Wells
Plant

15. Financing for Desalination Facilities
by Source (Million)
Congressional Appropriations (requires 45% local match) $26.0
Texas Water Development Board (interest free loan) $ 1.0
EPWU Bonds and Cash $60.7
Army’s Contribution (in kind) $ 3.3
TOTAL $91.0

16. Cost in Dollars Per 1,000
Gallons
G
$0.00
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
$3.00
$3.50
$4.00
$4.50
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W
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R
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Cost Comparison
Im
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n

17. Financial Impacts
Present Value of Supply Portfolio from 2012 to 2060
No desal
Increases water supply PV costs by $553 million
No reuse
Increases water supply PV costs by $603 million
No desal and no reuse
Increases water supply PV costs by $967 million

18. EPWU Triple Bottom Line
ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL FINANCIAL
(> $15.7M) (> $2.4M) (967M)
Carbon footprint Air quality related health 74% cost saving to
reduction ($15.77M) risk reduction ($2.4M) supply water to all
Energy savings 3.6M Supply reliability (+) EPWU customers
MWh Climate-insensitive
Air quality (+) supply source (++)
Groundwater quality (+) Sustaining agricultural
Surface water (+) communities (+)
Carbon footprint of
piping (+)

19. Summary
A diversified water resource strategy is key
Desalination, reuse and conservation can
be effective management tools
Desalination costs have decreased
substantially
Desalination and reuse are much more
cost-efficient than importation

20. For More Information Contact
Ed Archuleta, P.E.
President & CEO
El Paso Water Utilities
Office: 915.594.5501
earchuleta@epwu.org