California city water plant gets $1.6M solar panels

via Water Technology Online

SANTA CRUZ, CA — This city is installing $1.6 million worth of solar panels at a water treatment plant to cut down on electricity usage in preparation for a $40 million planned desalination plant which will require a lot of the city’s energy, a December 3 Santa Cruz Sentinel story said.

Mayor Ryan Coonerty said in the story, “Desalination requires a lot of energy. Offsetting our energy usage is not only the right thing to do, it’s required by state law.” State law says that global warming emissions have to be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020.

The Graham Hill Water Treatment Plant, which produces 4 billion gallons of water a year, will have panels on two buildings and four water tanks. The panels will produce 205,000 kilowatts a year.

The newspaper was told that treatment of 1,000 gallons of water at the plant requires 2 kilowatts, so the impact of the panels on the plant's total energy needs will be small. However, Water Director Bill Kocher said in the story, “It’s clear we need to be looking at low-hanging fruit to hold our carbon footprint where it is now as we proceed with desalination.”

Kocher said the panels will pretty much pay for themselves within 12 years. The city is also considering a mini hydro-electric project to help with water pressure coming off the Newell Creek dam.

The city is now running a pilot desalination plant program at the UC Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Lab to determine the scope of a proposed larger desalination system.

The solar panels will be funded through water customers and about $338,000 should be reimbursed by PG&E's California Solar Initiative Program, the story said.