San Antonio Utility Opens Giant Desal Plant

The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) unveiled the second-largest desalination plant in Texas at the end of January.

“The plant, which turns salty groundwater into drinking water, can supply up to 4.4 billion gallons per year, enough for 100,000 households,” the San Antonio Express-News reported.

The $197 million plant will supply 12 MGD, according to FOX San Antonio.

The opening of the H2Oaks Center makes San Antonio the only place in the country that produces three sources of water, according to KENS5.

"We pull the water out of the Edwards Aquifer, pipe it down here, store it underground for use during the summertime. It's like a savings account so during drought conditions we pull it back out and use it," SAWS CEO and President Robert Puente said, per the report.

The Express-News provided a snapshot of the inside of the plant — art details and all:

At the heart of the plant are racks of cylindrical pipes holding membranes that filter out salts as water is forced through them at high pressure. Next to that are a control room full of computer screens and two laboratories, one for water quality testing and one as a guest research laboratory for university students, the report continued.

Light fixtures are meant to look like raindrops and ceiling panels like clouds. Around the desalination membranes, interpretive displays built into the floor and windows show visitors where water enters and exits the system and the injection wells where leftover brine is pumped back underground.

SAWS plant manager Roberto Macias will run the facility, according to the Express-News. He praised the reliability of the supply.

"It's going to give us more opportunity because brackish water is an unlimited supply and it's drought-proof," he said, per the report. "And there's no competition for brackish water."

SAWS Board Chairman Heriberto "Berto" Guerra Jr. said the plant had tapped the water supply of the future.

"Right here in our region, we have billions and billions of gallons of brackish water that is unused and has been unusable," he said, per the report.

Desalination will remain a centerpiece of SAWS’s water supply plan in the coming years.

“SAWS' next challenge will be scaling up the plant over the next decade. The utility hopes it will produce up to 11 billion gallons per year of desalinated water by 2026 but lacks permits for the final 2.2 billion gallons from the neighboring Evergreen Underground Water Conservation District,” the report said.

For more on desalination projects visit Water Online’s Water Reuse Solutions Center.