Overview of the El Paso Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant

John Balliew, P.E.President/CEO

NM WRRI Desalination Workshop Las Cruces, New Mexico

October 24, 2017

Topics

El Paso Water Supply KBH Desalination Plant Concentrate Management Costs Plant Operation Future Plans

Hueco Bolson

Mesilla Bolson

Surface Water PlantsHueco WellsMesilla WellsDesalination Plant

Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant

Opened in 2007 to deal with: Drought Emergency situations Growth Brackish water intrusion

EPWU/Army Partnership Agreement

• All facilities to be constructed on Fort Bliss

• EPWU leases land from the Army

• All facilities owned and operated by EPWU

• EPWU sells water to Fort Bliss

Desalination Plant Details

Up to 27.5 MGD capacity

Utilizes 5 reverse osmosis skids

Currently typical daily production based on 2 skids

Benefits of Desalination Plant

• Reserves fresh water in Hueco Bolson for drought periods

• Prevents brackish water from encroaching on fresh water wells

• Reliable water supply during river drought

ESPA-1 Membranes

BF

Airport Area

Concentrate Management

• 3 MGD of concentrate is generated when the plant is operated at full capacity of 27.5 MGD.

• EPW uses several techniques to manage its concentrate produced from the KBH plant.

Deep Well InjectionEWMCERROSelective removal of arsenic and monovalent ions from concentrate (pilot study)

Remote Concentrate Disposal Area.

Appropriate geologic conditions.

Less costly than evaporation ponds

3 injections located 22 miles from plant

Deep Well Injection

Enviro Water Minerals Company (EWM), Public Private Partnership

Enviro Water Minerals Company is using cutting edge technology to recover minerals from waste brine from desalination plants.

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Enviro Water Minerals Company (EWM)

EWM chemically separates the concentrate

into high-purity industrial grade minerals products that are highly valued in commercial markets.

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Potash LiquidFertilizer

Bromide Rich Brine(Power plant mercury scrubbing)

Milk of Magnesia(Water treatment)

(Concentrate Enhanced Recovery Reverse Osmosis)

Batch Treatment Seawater RO Process

Can Recover up to 90% of RO Concentrate (98% Total)

Probably the most cost-effective way to produce additional water from concentrates of any type

Can take advantage of induction time to recover most of SiO2 & CaSO4 saturated water now wasted as concentrate

Pei Xu, Charlie (Qun) He, Xuesong Xu, Guanyu Ma, Lu Lin, Huiyao Wang, Nagamany Nirmalakhandan

Selective Removal of Arsenic and Monovalent Ions from Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis Concentrate

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Available Selective IX Membranes

• Good ion selectivity• Expensive and fragile

• More affordable and robust• Selectivity to be proven

[GE Water]

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Conclusions

• Selective removal of contaminants from RO concentrate can reduce treatment costs for beneficial use

• Selective electrodialysis membrane removes more monovalent cations (i.e., sodium) than normal grade membranes− Good selectivity under wide range of current− Similar power consumption compared to normal grade membrane− Better selectivity for low TDS water than for concentrate

• Very close, but may not achieve SAR goals for recovering El Paso RO concentrate due to low Ca:Na ratio and high Na removal goal

Capital Costs(21 Contracts)

Production wells and collectorsPlant and Near-Plant PipesConcentrate Disposal

Total Cost

$ 32 Million$ 40 Million$ 19 Million$ 91 Million

DisposalProduction Wells

Plant

Chart1

Disposal

Plant

Production Wells

Column1

19

40

32

Sheet1

Column1

Disposal19

Plant40

Production Wells32

To resize chart data range, drag lower right corner of range.

1. Congressional Appropriations (requires 45% local match) $26.02. Texas Water Development Board (interest free loan) 1.0 3. EPWU Bonds and Cash 60.74. Army’s Contribution (in kind) 3.3

Total 91.0

Financing for Desalination Facilities by Source (Million $)

Typical Operation- 8 MGD

February 7, 2011- Big Freeze-22 MGD to help restore water supply in EP.

Drought Conditions - May 2012, No surface water in May- 19 consecutive days of production over 20 MGD

Highlights of 10 year Plant Operation

Peak Annual Production was 2013 (7329 acre-feet) corresponding to lowest river supply in 100 years.

Over 53,000 acre-feet of finished water produced in 10 years.

Highlights of 10 year Plant Operation

Chart1

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Acre/Feet

Acre/Feet

Kay Baily Hutchinson Desalination Plant

2413.372983

3717.4352694943

3771.9693970557

3617.8314628465

5119.1587566096

6659.1294794246

7329.150439925

4520.3390506704

5171.1365010388

4592.651242439

Sheet1

Acre/Feet

20072413.372983

20083,717.44

20093,771.97

20103,617.83

20115,119.16

20126,659.13

20137,329.15

20144,520.34

20155,171.14

20164,592.65

Plant production to increase

Continued to be used in drought relief and interruption of supply

Planning for additional capacity

Future Planning

Questions

28

� �Overview of the El Paso �Kay Bailey Hutchison �Desalination Plant����TopicsSlide Number 3Slide Number 4Slide Number 5Slide Number 6Slide Number 7Slide Number 8Slide Number 9Slide Number 10Slide Number 11Slide Number 12Slide Number 13Concentrate ManagementSlide Number 15Enviro Water Minerals Company (EWM), Public Private PartnershipEnviro Water Minerals Company (EWM)Slide Number 18�Selective Removal of Arsenic and Monovalent Ions from Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis Concentrate�Available Selective IX Membranes ConclusionsSlide Number 22Slide Number 23Slide Number 24Slide Number 25Slide Number 26Slide Number 27Questions