The Santa Barbara plant will help to address California’s growing water demands. It will initially produce 3125 acre-feet per year (AFY) of high quality water, meeting 26% of the city’s water needs. The plant also has the option to expand to 7500 AFY, and is scheduled to provide potable water by October 2016.
“California’s record-breaking drought is showing no sign of easing up anytime soon. This reinforces the need for a drought-proof solution such as water desalination,” said Mark Lambert, CEO of IDE Americas. “With this project in Santa Barbara, we look forward to increasing the reliability of the region’s water supply and expanding our footprint in the US desalination market.”
“During a time of shrinking surface and groundwater supplies, the Santa Barbara desalination plant represents an alternative way to help meet the region’s rising need for potable water,” said Robert Roebuck, project manager for Santa Barbara’s public works department. “With IDE’s extensive experience designing and supplying equipment for over 400 desalination plants across the globe, including Carlsbad, we knew IDE would be the perfect partner to reactivate this plant.”
