Water Sources
Seawater Desalination
We’ve learned that a diversified water supply provides the greatest assurance that no single source will become over-stressed. Because of this, we know that seawater desalination will eventually play a role in our region’s water supply solutions. But for inland communities, such as Seminole County, the cost of seawater desalination is much greater than for coastal communities because of the additional distance required to transport the water. Additionally, the current technologies required to desalinate seawater can be energy intensive, which could increase greenhouse gas emissions at a time when the scientific community has become increasingly concerned about global climate change. And, as most of our customers know from their own experiences with fuel costs, energy costs are rising.
As a matter of smart resource management, we have to think about the cost of water just like we think about all economic issues, all while protecting the environment that provides our quality of life. These are important issues in deciding the next appropriate alternative water supply source for our customers.
Like most of Florida, our citizens are already dealing with rising insurance costs, fuel costs and food costs at a time when our economy is weakening. We have a duty to ensure that water is as affordable as possible, and because of this, we owe it to our customers to always move to the next most affordable and feasible option. In our case, that is surface water from the St. Johns River. In the future, when alternative energy sources are developed, greenhouse gas emissions are curtailed and treatment technology improves, seawater desalination will become a more viable option for Seminole County.
This is good public policy.
