WFNF is five times more expensive per million gallons per day than a modern Middle East seawater desalination plant. And twice as expensive as an Australian one. Plus taking more than twice as long to build.

WFNF does nothing to reduce Jacksonville’s groundwater withdrawals. Seawater desalination could eliminate them.

And brine disposal is not just a problem: it’s an opportunity to extract minerals for profit.

Five years ago in Arab News, July 9, 2019, UAE to build $900m desalination plant with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power,

“Plant in Umm Al-Quwain will produce 150 million gallons of water per day”

NAQA’A Desalination Plant, Umm Al Quwain, U.A.E., 150 mgd potable water, $0.82 billion U.S.D.

Now, in 2026, It’s operational: NAQA’A Desalination Plant in Umm Al Quwain.

“The total investment size is around AED 3.0 billion with financing provided through debt by consortium consisting of First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mitsubishi Financial Group, Korea Development Bank, Siemens Bank, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Saudi American Bank.”

That’s about 0.82 billion U.S. dollars.

For comparison, the Water First North Florida (WFNF) pipeline of treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin would only carry 40 mgd and the latest estimate is it would cost $1.1 billion.

Let’s see, 150 mgd / $0.82 billion is 183 mgd/$1 billion.

40 mgd / $1.1 billion is 36.4 mgd/$1 billion.

So WFNF is five times as expensive as the Umm Al-Quwain desalination plant, and WFNF does nothing to reduce Jacksonville’s groundwater withdrawals.

JEA says it delivers 120 mgd to its customers.

So one Umm Al-Quwain-class desalination plant could remove all of Jacksonville’s need for groundwater withdrawals and provide an additional 30 mgd.

And be producing in about five years, instead of the 13 years of the WFNF schedule.

Thanks to Dave Gilliard for the tip.

Meanwhile, in Western Australia, the Alkimos Seawater Desalination Plant will supply about 50 billion liters of drinking water a year. That’s about 72.4 million gallons a day.

Alkimos is estimated to cost $2.8 billion Australian dollars. Which is about $1.95 billion U.S. dollars.

72.4 / 1.95 is about 37 mgd/$1 billion. Or about half as expensive as WFNF.

Investment for Alkimos was announced 4 December 2023. First water production is planned for 2028.

So that’s about five years to build Alkimos. Again, far faster than WFNF’s 13 years, and more water.

There are more examples.

But these are enough to demonstrate that seawater desalination can be faster, cheaper, and more productive than WFNF.

Sure, brine disposal is an issue. Might be worth looking into how other plants do it.

And brine disposal is also a moneymaking opportunity. January 17, 2024, ‘Saudi Desalination’: Chinese Plants for Brine Mining Operational by 2026,

The General Manager of Commercial Services at the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), Eng. Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, announced the start of operations for two new Chinese plants at the Ras Al Khair station in eastern Saudi Arabia.

These plants will focus on utilizing brine water and extracting minerals, with operations beginning in the first quarter of 2026.

The SWCC has made agreements with local and international companies to develop investment opportunities in brine mining.

…

He pointed out upcoming efforts to extract essential minerals like magnesium, potassium, and high-purity sodium chloride. These minerals are vital for diverse industries in the Kingdom.

Al-Ghamdi confirmed that the new plants will help produce elements like sodium and bromine within the Kingdom, reducing the need for imports.

None of this was mentioned in the document SRWMD sent me about How WFNF was chosen and desalination was rejected.

None of it was mentioned on the Challenges with Desalination poster at the SRWMD and SJRWMD Open House at UF IFAS in Live Oak last week.

Challenges with Desalination, 2026-03-19 –jsq for WWALS

Perhaps SRWMD and SJRWMD and JEA should do more research.

Maybe even until then call a moratorium on WFNF as Madison County is calling for today.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Short Link: