As the Southmost Regional Water Authority brackish water desalination plant gets ever closer to production goals, the cost of the water you are drinking has been creeping up. Yep. When it is running at full capacity, it will provide 40% of the water requirements of the partner entities (read PUB, which owns 94%). The production costs for water from this plant are far higher than those of PUB Water Plant #1 and #2. So naturally, plant #1 is scheduled to be decommissioned.
Folks, in an earlier posting I told you that there was an actual plan in place to raise the cost basis of drinking water. I am sure that some of you out there thought I was just being alarmist or silly. I assure you that this is not the case. Just look at it. The more they run the desal plant on FM 511, the higher the drinking water production cost. That is an absolute fact that cannot be argued nor spun with one of their famous number juggling acts.
They were originally talked into this by Dannenbaum Engineering. The project was picked up as the "Poster Child" for NRS Engineering, who have sucked it for all it is worth. Now they are blasting full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes for an seawater desal plant. They are doing it in partnership with the Port of Brownsville, and that should make anyone nervous. They are not slowing down to look around the landscape to see if anything is more cost effective.
Well, ok, they did try to send some people to Spain to look at this, but I have a hint for them: They have phones in Spain now, just call. If this is just to un-hip, could I suggest a virtual presence via video teleconference? Yes, we can actually do that from here. It is very hip and now and you don't need an engineering study to accomplish it. You don't even need lawyers. If it is too much to handle I suggest sending someone to hang around a video arcade and hire a promising looking eleven year old to set it up for you.
I don't know how else to say this. They don't care what you have to pay to live here. These are people who are trying to look hip and cool and with-it on the engineering scene without any regard for the costs to the people who have to ultimately pay for it. The cost basis for water is rising and PUB is the one raising it.
It isn't carved in stone. It is built with brick and steel and your money.
“Of course I know. It is my business to know.” -The Merovingian
Monday, October 29, 2007
I Hope the Water tastes Better
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17 comments:
M,what is the purpose of the seawater desal "project"? I don't see anything new. It is just a reverse osmosis plant. And, by the way, what are they doing with the arsenic by-product?
I think you hit the nail dead center.
It is nothing new and if we lived in the Arabia, where there are few other choices I wouldn't be so angry. PUB donned some blinders and ran off with a checkbook in one hand and an engineering study in the other.
THERE IS NO NEW TECHNOLOGY THERE.
The only thing that is different from the plant on FM511 is the size and the whopping expense. The original plans called for a cogeneration facility, coupled with a coal fired generator. The flaw with that plan was that they wanted some god-awful 100~300 Megawatt behemoth of a power plant. The cost of keeping the mercury emissions (in tons) down to an acceptable level in a sensitive ecological area near the sea-coast was prohibitive and met tremendous oppositon from the enviormental front. As an added non-bonus, the power plant produced far more heat than could be recaptured in the desalination process for maximium thermal efficiency. So, the only potential newer technology was scraped from the plans and instead of a higher efficiency cogeneration facility, we are left with a ho-hum reverse osmosis water plant that is expensive to build and so expensive to run, that PUB and NRS Engineering have to play games with the cost figures to make the remaining pig of a money pit even look like someone could possibly afford to turn it on.
In addition, in order to make it easy to show off, they stupidly decided to plunk it down on the highway 48 side of the ship channel, instead of the other side of the channel, requiring a 54 inch pipe run be bored UNDER THE SHIP CHANNEL.
This is poor engineering, but great for PUB and NRS and Rick Perry to lead political tour groups through on their way to boozing it up on the Island after a hard day of patting themselves on the back.
On the current brackish water plant:
The arsenic must be sequestered out. There are two chemical forms of the diluted arsenic, one of which was, until recently giving the filters hell. They now have that within guidelines for safety. The total amount is not physically very much, but a little goes a long way in drinking water.
I doubt that the FM511 plant's arsenic production would fill a coffee can in a year, but I will find out exactly what they are doing with it for you.
On the proposed "big" plant:
The concentrated effluent will be diluted with a high bypass mix of raw seawater and piped out into the gulf. With the amount of bypass seawater they intend to use, the actual concentration of minerals and chemicals will not actually be much more than the sea into which they are dumping it. Arsenic concentrations at the outflow point should pose no danger to marine life. (well, the did get something right)
That was a good question and I hope my answer was complete enough. If not, ask more questions.
I sure as hell wish that PUB does before they put the next two generations in debt.
"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian
I had no idea that project included the Port of Brownsville. Like they don't have enough on their plate as it is.
Yep, it is on all the braggin' web pages.
M.
M, you do make some good points. However, you also need to do more research before you jump on the PUB bashing bandwagon. I agree, the proposed seawater plant is not right for Brownsville right now. While the technology has been proven to work in other areas of the world, the biggest reason they've worked elsewhere is because those areas were willing to put up hundreds of millions of dollars to make it work...in some cases, it was even on the order of billions. The only major seawater desalination plant built so far in the US still doesn't work, and almost $200 million has been spent so far on it...
However, your comments on the FM 511 plant are only partially correct. Yes, that facility has some arsenic issues, but PUB has made a big effort to make sure not to exceed the federal limits, like Military Highway did, and continues to do. As for the costs for this facility, yes, the costs to produce water there are higher than the older PUB water plants, about 50% higher (PUB is required by state law to provide existing capital and operational cost information for each plant). However, your statement about producing more water at higher and higher costs is wrong. Actually, the more water the FM 511 facility (or any water treatment facility for that matter) produces, the cheaper the cost per 1,000 gallons treated. Something else you neglected to mention in your blog is from the water rights saved from using the FM 511 plant. Since the FM 511 plant uses groundwater, no water rights have to be purchased for treatment, whereas water rights have been purchased in the past to produce water from the older PUB water plants. So, when you take those water rights into account, the actual total cost from the older plants compared to the FM 511 plant ends up being fairly close.
While I do applaud your concern over PUB spending money wisely, I do hope that you work on more in depth research before you jump to conclusions about how things are done at PUB or the City of Brownsville. We need to question everything we see and hear at both entities, but we also need to apply our questions and statements with logic and wisdom. After all, if we don't, then we're no better than many of the elected officials we all continue to complain about.
I have no problem saying that your work has improved dramatically. I am told you're an okay guy. If my notes on grammar offended you, well, that never was my intent. I'm kind of a stickler for good writing. In one way, I sincerely thought it would help. Ah, well. Life is daily and it does go on. Perhaps we shall meet soon. I'll spring for a beer and we can talk AllThingsBrownsville - lately a favorite collection of meaningful words for me. Take care, my friend. No hard feelings here.
Duardo Paz-Martinez
- The Avenger
(sounds corny, doesn't it? I know, I know. But it's a spoof, just in case you haven't noticed...)
Mero, What's your take on the weir project. Is it practical?
Au Revoir
A weir is practical.
What they propose is, par for the course, a money pit. If PUB wants a retention dam, then by all means build that. All stone with no moving parts. That is what a weir is. What they are proposing has a $9 Million PER YEAR maintenance budget! That is purely insane.
I had a really stupid idea, it is stupid because it didn't need a multi-thousand study, I guess.
Here it goes:
1) Build the weir, all concrete and stone and no moving parts.
2) Make the top of it 2 lanes wide.
3) put a gate on each end.
This will give us an additional 2 lane bridge to Mexico that is useable any time the river is not at flood levels.
Inspect the weir every 10 years. If it needs repairs the first time around, forfeit the bond of the construction company and make the repairs.
But before doing a single other thing or spending another single nickel: Get agreement and approval from Mexico, State department to State Department. Everything else is the usual local time wasting, consultant paying, cousin marrying, boondoggle that seems to be the "way things are done."
I wish all the local bozo's would realize that Brownsville can't contract with sovereign nations. That power is reserved for the Federal government.
They have already spent $6 Million chasing this. That amount plus one year’s maintenance budget would have built our half of what I propose. Do you think they will listen? No. Any chance of changing the plan? No.
Do they read anything written here?
Well, the answer to that is yes, therefore no claims that they were never told about this will be accepted.
My favorite infrastructure improvements are those that are paid for one time and don't take on a life and staff of their own.
Maybe it is just me, but some of this stuff that money is thrown at could be done so much simpler and cheaper if they would take a single, non money spending step back and ask themselves, "What exactly are our primary goals and how do we get there fast and cheap?"
I am sorry for the bloviating, but some of these projects seemed to be designed with the specific goal of angering me beyond belief.
I do hope that I answered the question adequately.
"Of yada,yada,yada" -The Merovingian
While I do applaud your concern over PUB spending money wisely, I do hope that you work on more in depth research before you jump to conclusions about how things are done at PUB or the City of Brownsville.
I have.
I took some time before replying to think if I was missing something on my statement that the more the 511 plant runs, the more it will cost for the water. Although the volumetric efficiency of the 511 plant increases with throughput, I will have to stand by my original assesment.
M.
Mero,
Thanks for the response regarding the weir. My concern also reaches out for the future generation(s) having enough h2o to sustain things.
Considering the influx of fast food restaurants, and the number of schools being built, I'm truly concerned that we may be heading the way of the Anastasi or those Karankawa folks.
If you were a PUB board member, would these issues weigh on your mind, or would just concern yourself with the the next week's agenda?
Do you think the powers that be look past any special interests and have a viable plan in place, or should we take our chips elsewhere and seek greener pastures?
Au Revoir
PS
Loaded questions indeed. But I'm seriously thinking about pulling up stakes should this area not progress.
I'm sure alot of people would say, Au Revoir!... don't let the door hit you in the ass...
But at least, I'd have a say on who my utility provider would be, and maybe, just maybe, those board members are truly looking for the bottom line and know a thing or two about utilities, or what a meter looks like.
PSS
"I wish all the local bozo's would realize that Brownsville can't contract with sovereign nations. That power is reserved for the Federal government."
Hey, I know Bozo the Clown. It's a Detroit-Chicago thing. Tell me you know Soupy Sales....
Au Revoir
If you were a PUB board member, would these issues weigh on your mind, or would just concern yourself with the the next week's agenda?
I feel that next weeks agenda should contain a couple of small items that came up during the month and mostly consist of discussion of progress on items 4 to 5 years out and looking for ways to arrive there cheaper and will less moving parts (I really have a thing against moving parts, they are the root of most failures)
Facing a crisis is almost always proof of poor planning. At present, were I on the board, I could not say for certain what would happen, besides being called a pretentious know-it-all on a regular basis. ;)
Do you think the powers that be look past any special interests and have a viable plan in place, or should we take our chips elsewhere and seek greener pastures?
From living here all my life, I have to say that Brownsville has progressed a huge amount despite the various incarnations of "Dufuss and Co." that have played tug-of-war over petty, self-serving interests. I have often though of relocating, but I refuse to be run out of my home. They may not have a plan for the future, I am not too sure that I would like theirs if they did have one. What is important to me is that I have one, and I will keep proding and poking and yelling and posting and phone calling and.... well, you get the point, until the mindset of how to look at the present and future changes.
Municipal water supply should never be a problem for Brownsville. I can think of tons of ways to make afforable drinking water for Brownsville. Irrigation water for the surrounding cropland; that is more likely to "face a crisis" first.
Thanks,
It's 12:10am, and I can now sleep rest assured.
What about Loft type dwellings in the downtown B'ville area? Do you see any potential?
Thanks,
Au R...
What about Loft type dwellings in the downtown B'ville area? Do you see any potential?
There sure would be, provided we do a few things first.
1) Destroy every used clothing store in the area. Relegate them to the flea market.
2) Close off downtown to automobile traffic. Make downtown a walking market area.
3) Doze 1 sqaure block for a big parking garage.
I am sorry I took so long to respond. I had not thought of that idea before. It has real merit and I felt it was important to give it due thought before I answered.
M.
Thanks for the insight. We shouldn't settle for anything less.
I visited the UT-TSC area today and was impressed with the development going on in that area.
I wonder, if the (International) bridge crossing was open to only foot traffic, would both sides benefit without loosing $$$?
It seems to me that the traffic flow does not work in it's present configuration. IMHO
Au Revoir
The present configurations of the bridges are a bit off because of the built up "footings" at each end. There is a good sized "off ramp" at each end, but on both sides of the river, 2 of the 3 bridges feed into traffic bottlenecks (b&m-downtown brownsville & matamoros) (gateway, endless traffic lighs on international and skirts downtown in brownsville, into the main drag in matamoros)
Of course customs inspection slows things to a crawl on the US side.
It would really take a true truck only bridge, like the Port proposed one to make the Gateway bridge a consumer traffic bridge that could revitalize center Brownsville. Were that added to the list, then your "Loft Living" idea would work well. Do you know that Al Roser,the customs broker, lives that way, downtown already?
M.
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