Tag Archives: desalination

NAQA’A Desalination Plant in Umm Al Quwain, U.A.E. 2019-07-09

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Update 2026-03-26: Added more examples and a table.

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.

For much more about WFNF, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

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.]
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. Continue reading →

Pictures: SRWMD WFNF Open House, UF IFAS, Live Oak, FL 2026-03-19

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Update 2026-03-25: NAQA’A Desalination Plant in Umm Al Quwain, U.A.E. 2019-07-09.

Many people were disappointed in the informational tables about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin.

For much more about WFNF, see

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

[Pictures: SRWMD WFNF, Open House, UF IFAS, Live Oak, FL, Thursday, March 19, 2026]
Pictures: SRWMD WFNF, Open House, UF IFAS, Live Oak, FL, Thursday, March 19, 2026

WCTV’s subhead is incorrect about the Community Open House by SRWMD, 6-8 PM, Thursday, March 19, 2026, at UF-IFAS in Live Oak, Florida:

“This project wouldn’t happen until 2039”

According to their own schedule, many parts of WFNF are already happening, such as the three-year consultant wetland pilot study and siting study funded by SJRWMD in November 2025. The first pipes would start going in in 2028: “Transmission Mains to Wetland.” Pipes to recharge facilities, i.e., those in the Suwannee Basin, would start going in in 2032. It’s only the final complete turn on of the entire project that might not start until 2039. Continue reading →

How WFNF was chosen and desalination was rejected –SRWMD 2025-01-01

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This document appears to show the process by which SRWMD, SJRWMD, FDEP, JEA, and three other water utilities decided on Water First North Florida (WFNF), their plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin.

Thanks to Amy Brown, SRWMD Deputy Executive Director, Water Resources, for sending this document.

A copy of the document is on the WWALS website, and images of each page are below.

The discussion below is my opinion and nobody at SRWMD is responsible for it.

[How WFNF was chosen and desalination was rejected, SRWMD, SJRWD, JEA, FDEP, et al., January 2025]
How WFNF was chosen and desalination was rejected, SRWMD, SJRWD, JEA, FDEP, et al., January 2025

Notably missing from the options that were considered is wells at wetlands below planted pine plantations, as proposed by Dennis J. Price, PG, back in 2016. No reason is given for why.

Page 34 has a summary of why desalination was rejected:

Desalination (for comparative reference- not recommended for further study): Several desalination alternatives were considered in the evaluation. Desalination at Coquina would desalinate ocean water from the east coast in the Jacksonville area and pump it to the conceptual recharge area. Desalination at the Gulf Coast would desalinate water from a location on the west coast and pump it to the recharge area. The Pumping Replacement alternative would desalinate saltwater from the Jacksonville area and replace groundwater as a water supply for all four participating utilities. The desalination alternatives are not recommended for further evaluation because of:
1) High capital and operation and maintenance cost, partly due to the treatment process itself, and partly due to the high cost of brine disposal,
2) Managing brine disposal incurs significant technical and regulatory challenges,
3) Replacement of all four participating utility groundwater pumping with desalinated seawater would not meet the full MFL requirements, and
4) Ocean desalination does not address the requirements of Senate Bill 64 to put reclaimed water to beneficial use.

Let’s address each of those four points: Continue reading →

Florida Senate Bill would send treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin –WTXL 2026-03-03

Update 2026-03-09: Chance to speak to SRWMD at its Board Meeting, 9 AM, Tuesday, March 10, 2026.

Thanks to Lyric Sloan for a WTXL TV report from the Florida Senate Rules Committee Tuesday.

Environmental advocates are pushing back, warning the plan could introduce contaminants and fails to address what John Quarterman, Suwannee Riverkeeper, calls the root cause of declining river flows: over-pumping from the aquifer.

[FL SB 7034 would send treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee Basin --WTXL 2026-03-03]
FL SB 7034 would send treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee Basin –WTXL 2026-03-03

“It’s a risky project,” Quarterman said. “There’s no evidence that it takes out PFAs for other chemicals or drugs, pharmaceuticals, and right now that plant is under a consent order for exceeding all sorts of limits.”

Quarterman and other opponents argue Jacksonville should instead reduce its groundwater withdrawals or pursue alternative water sources, such as the St. Johns River or desalination.

Keep calling your Florida statehouse members, SRWMD, etc. For who and how, see:

https://wwals.net/?p=69583

And there’s a petition you can sign: https://c.org/8CgGBpLv7r

If you want assistance with how to craft a comment, come to the WWALS Workshop,
5-6:30 PM, Wednesday, March 18, 2026,
at the Live Oak Public Library, 1848 Ohio Ave S, Live Oak, FL 32064.

https://wwals.net/?p=69575

And don’t forget SRWMD’s own public meeting,
6-8 PM, Thursday, March 19, 2026,
at SRWMD HQ 9225 County Road 49, Live Oak FL 32060.

https://wwals.net/?p=69504

Lyric Sloan, WTXL TV, 7:42 PM, Mar 03, 2026, Florida Senate Bill would send treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin: SB 7034 would pipe treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin to stabilize river flows, but critics warn of contamination risks, while supporters believe it could help agriculture,

DOWNTOWN TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — A proposed Florida Senate Bill would allow treated wastewater from Jacksonville to be piped into the Suwannee River Basin in an effort to stabilize water flows in the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers.

Continue reading →

Water First North Florida at Columbia County Commission 2026-02-19

Update 2026-02-20: Nobody at a Live Oak meeting liked Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee Basin 2026-02-05.

In Lake City this evening at 5:30 PM,

the Columbia County Commissioners will hear from SRWMD about WFNF, the SRWMD and SJRWMD plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into wetlands in the Suwannee River Basin, supposedly to replenish the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and their springs.

Go if you can, and be early if you want to speak. The location is School Board Administrative Complex, 372 West Duval Street, Lake City, FL. 32055.

[Water First North Florida, Columbia BOCC 2026-02-19, WWALS Letter, SRWMD Letter]
Water First North Florida, Columbia BOCC 2026-02-19, WWALS Letter, SRWMD Letter

I sent a letter, included below, and a request to speak at a later meeting.

Also below is the letter SRWMD sent to Columbia BOCC.

Remember to ask your local, state, and federal elected and appointed officials for answers, or to stop this project. Continue reading →