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Seawater Desalination One-Pager

Texas is fortunate to have a 367-mile coastline along the Gulf of Mexico that provides the state access to a limitless supply of seawater. Although it has long been known that desalinating seawater can produce usable water, the process is only now becoming economically attractive.

In the 2007 State Water Plan, regional water planning groups H, L, M, and N, which have direct access to the Gulf of Mexico, recommended seawater desalination as a water management strategy. In total, these strategies would create about 138,114 acre-feet of new water per year by 2060.

Chronology and Accomplishments

  • 2002 - Governor Rick Perry directs the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to recommend a large-scale seawater desalination demonstration project.
  • 2003 - 78th Texas Legislature directs the TWDB to develop cost effective water supplies from seawater desalination.
  • 2004 - The TWDB conducts seawater desalination feasibility studies in Brownsville, Corpus Christi, and Freeport.
  • 2005 - The 79th Texas Legislature appropriates $2.5 million to the TWDB for seawater desalination pilot plant studies and brackish groundwater desalination demonstration projects.
  • 2006 - The TWDB awards a $231,000 grant to Laguna Madre Water District to implement an ocean-intake pilot plant study on South Padre Island. The pilot study will lead to the construction of a 1-million-gallon-per-day seawater desalination plant. It is a recommended water management strategy in the 2006 Region M regional water plan.
  • 2006 - The TWDB awards $1.3 million to the Brownsville Public Utilities Board to conduct a seawater desalination pilot plant study in Brownsville: the Lower Rio Grande Regional Seawater Desalination Pilot Plant.
  • 2008 - The Brownsville Public Utilities Board completes the pilot plant study and formulates an updated proposal for implementing the first phase of a large-scale seawater desalination plant to be located at the Brownsville ship channel.
  • 2009 - The TWDB awards $60,160 to the Brownsville Public Utilities Board to conduct a stakeholder environmental scoping study for permitting seawater desalination facilities in South Texas.

The Lower Rio Grande Regional Seawater Desalination Plant

The 2008 pilot plant study by the Brownsville Public Utilities Board indicated that the preferred location for a seawater desalination facility is the south bank of the Brownsville ship channel at a point located approximately 11 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The raw water system to feed the plant would consist of an open canal off the ship channel. The recommended treatment process is a conventional settling system followed by membrane pretreatment and reverse-osmosis filtration. The brine would be transported back to the ocean via a 14-mile pipe and discharged 0.5 miles into the Gulf. The projected cost of this project is $184 million.

The Brownsville Public Utilities Board proposes a phased approach to develop this facility. The first phase of the project would be a 2.5-million-gallon-per-day production and demonstration facility. Subsequent increments to the plant would be installed on the basis of demand growth over the next 40 years.

The projected cost of this first phase is $22.5 million. The TWDB requested an exceptional item in its Legislative Appropriations Request for Fiscal Year 2013 to assist the Brownsville Public Utilities Board with implementing this project.

The proposed facility and the recommended phased implementation approach could serve as a prototype for large seawater desalination development in Texas by demonstrating the permitting process and providing a tangible reference point for the design, construction, and operation of a seawater desalination facility at a Texas ship channel location. Toward this end, TWDB provided a $60,160 grant to the Brownsville Public Utilities Board to provide a science based forum where environmental and permitting issues associated with the construction and operation of a full-scale seawater desalination facility can be identified and solutions integrated into the design process. The final report is scheduled to be completed in November 2010.

Laguna Madre Water District Pilot Plant Study

In 2006, the TWDB awarded the Laguna Madre Water District a $231,000 grant to conduct a seawater desalination feasibility and pilot plant study. The total cost of the project is estimated at $779,000. The pilot plant study was completed in June 2010. Laguna Madre Water District is now planning to construct a 2 million-gallon-per-day seawater desalination plant to meet municipal water needs on South Padre Island.

More Information

More information about TWDB's seawater desalination activities is available by contacting Jorge Arroyo at 512-475-3003.