SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Sept. 8, 2015 -- Today, WaterFX Hydro I, Inc., dba HydroRevolution, a California subsidiary of WaterFX, announced the filing of a Direct Public Offering (DPO) for the construction of a state-of-the-art solar-powered desalination plant in California's Central Valley. Water produced by the plant will be purchased by local water agencies for deliveries beginning in late 2016. By using the sun to recycle a nearly limitless source of saltwater back into usable fresh water, HydroRevolution is developing a sustainable and reliable water supply for California. Once constructed, it will be the largest solar desalination plant in North America (see: "CA's first commercial solar desalination plant to bring fresh water to Central Valley").
The HydroRevolution plant is the first commercial solar desalination plant to be constructed in California. At full scale, the plant will occupy up to 100 acres of land in the Panoche Water and Drainage District and produce 5,000 acre-feet of fresh water per year. The system is capable of treating water with greater than 90-percent recovery rate, isolating salt and mineral by-products for downstream commercial uses. The plant expands on the demonstration project operated by WaterFX in 2013 in the Panoche Water and Drainage District. The expansion will utilize clean, solar energy to treat irrigation drainage water from 6,000 acres of salt-impaired cropland and generate a new supply of fresh water for the district. WaterFX will service and operate the plant through a partnership with ATSI Engineering.
Unlike conventional desalination plants, HydroRevolution will not treat seawater; rather, it will draw from a replenishing supply of shallow irrigation water, known as subsurface drainage water, which has previously been unusable. Irrigation drainage water is a natural consequence of agricultural activities but poses a serious threat to cropland, wildlife and waterways in the Central Valley as its high salinity content can damage freshwater ecosystems. By treating this source of water, HydroRevolution will help farmers solve two difficult problems: obtaining a consistent and reliable source of fresh water and restoring impaired ecosystems. Without this solution, an additional 10 percent of farmland in California will have to be retired every year to create additional storage for untreated drainage water.
