Thesis3

measure xthesis_11 data_collection x

You still haven’t answered how you will measure water supply management. Is it measured as changes in management practices (where the supply comes from, how it is distributed) or the actual supply (amount) of water itself

WATER SUPPLY MANAGEMENT 2

Water measuring involves managing water and water supply management lies behind the great development challenges in this 21st century. It possible that without greatly improving how we mange water, it will be almost impossible to have food security, have healthy cities and productive ecosystems. The challenges of this basis involve access to the water services and it is less pressing and the other challenge involve making the right quality and quantity of water that is available when it is needed most. The critical goal regarding water, the water capturing resource management and the water supply and the sanitization services makes a lot of sense and the act of measurement is important to water management. Therefore improving the water management will involve grasping of politically tough nettles. With the reduction of allocation f water to some uses, reduction of pollution and overdrawing of aquifers that is needed is not easy.

The report on world economic forum and global risks show that the water supply listed are among the high risky when it comes to impact, which is ahead of the spread of weapons in the mass destruction of food crises and the fiscal imbalances. As the world is waking up to the available potential problems regarding water management that the water management has posed to many aspects of life, the chance to come together regarding the standards tool of measuring how well countries could manage resources. Water supply is also characterized by a challenging environment of the dense population and therefore the access to water is affordable, universal and of high quality. An innovative and integrated management approach like the use of water that is reclaimed it is protected. There are opportunities to enhance use of the scarce resource which is both environmentally sustainable and viable like the use of desalination.

Public Administration and Water supply Management in Urban Areas of USA

How does the strategy of higher desalination of water helps in better water supply management in overly populated urban sector?

Abstract

A very interesting thing is being taking place in USA as well as across the globe in the field of water supply management. With increasing population and depletion of traditional freshwater resources, there is a requirement of implementing a new way of supplying water for drinking, domestic purposes and industrial applications. Hence, increasing focus in being placed on desalination as an alternative to fresh ground-water supplies. Through the process of desalination salty water of sea as well as moderately salty water sources are being treated for daily use.

USA has been one of the forerunners in installing desalination. Moreover, Florida is the pioneer in implementing desalination facilities in the country. Today, a significant portion of urban water supplies in Florida as well as in USA is being managed by desalination. However, much more initiatives need to be taken to exploit this alternative method of water supply appropriately. But, a lot of challenges are being faced by the USA in the process of implementing desalination, such as technical issues, funding problems, lack of public assistance, environmental issues, etc. Government agencies need to be more careful while using desalination and extend more funds towards installing desalination facilities in order to have a better water supply management.

Literature Review

In the urban areas of USA, due to reasons like increasing population, climate changes, paucity of water supply etc., water supply management has emerged as a matter of great concern. Though the public administrative bodies of nation, state and city levels have taken action to solve the problem but the level of efficiency of these policies or initiative is still unclear.

More than 50% of water supplied by public authorities is consumed by domestic household whereas less water is consumed business or industries, as per the report of Environment Protection Agency (EPA) of USA. Although, based on location it includes some variations related to amount of consumption (EPA, 2013).

Particularly in the urban areas, most of the sates of USA have already understood the pressure related with increasing use of water. In every region of USA water scarcity is a common problem (Borisova et al. 2009). Issues like in growth in population, increase in use of in-stream water, constant withdrawal of ground water and its environmental side effects, impact of climate changes in relation to water supply and distribution worldwide are now being dealt with by the administrative bodies (Dziegielewski and Kiefer 2008).

Over the years, efficiency with respect to water usage has been improved, but rapid population growth, mainly in urban areas, has led to a huge increase in withdrawal of groundwater by public authorities to supply water (Marella 2008). Making provision for adequate water for the incasing urban population has become a major concern for water supply managers of the country (Borisova et al. 2009). This concern has been heightened by the long-term effects of climatic changes. For example, changes in the amount of rainfall, evaporation, groundwater recharge, etc. on account of variation in climate significantly influence availability of and demand for freshwater (Borisova et al. 2009). With respect to the quality of drinking water, there are concerns about disinfection by chemical substances, mainly in urban areas.

A former director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations’ Office of Hydrology stated that USA is becoming seriously concerned about scarcity of clean water supplies and increasing prices oil (America’s Authority in Membrane Treatment, 2007). While conventional ways like building of dams, aqueducts and reservoirs have already been explored, the government has started to look for new alternatives for increasing clean water supply. However, due to funding problems, requirement high capital investments or increasing environmental concerns, many proposed projects about expanding the supplied of clean water have not been completed (America’s Authority in Membrane Treatment, 2007). Hence, the government is now looking for various other ways to deal with the issue of freshwater supply.

For expanding the present freshwater supplies, various options are available. For the purpose of managing water demands, conservation will always remain the most convenient and cost -effective mean. But, the problem is that the amount of water that can be conserved is limited. Hence, there is a requirement of finding out other options. The present supply of fresh water can be replaced by recycled and treated wastewater that can be reused for some limited indirect drinking and non-drinking purposed. (America’s Authority in Membrane Treatment, 2007; National Research Council, 2008)

The water agencies have been compelled to search for latest sources of water supply, like the sea or ocean and salty groundwater aquifers to satisfy the demand for additional supplies of water (Hill, 2012). In the United States of America, ocean water desalination is a huge source of water s that has not been exploited in a large extent (Chaudhry, 2010). Many areas that have lack of freshwater, have still access moderately salty water. Besides, more than three-quarters of the surface of the earth is covered by very salty water that can not maintain human life and makes agricultural activities unfeasible (Clayton, 2006). However, this huge source of salty water can be treated to address shortage of freshwater supplies. The process which is employed to generate new freshwater supplies by filtering out salt and other dissolved mineral from sea water or moderately salty water is called desalination (Chaudhry, 2010; Clayton, 2006). The membrane method used in the process of desalination also removes other contaminants in sea or brackish water, such as dissolved metals, pathogens, organic substances, arsenic, radio-nuclides, etc. (Carter, 2013).

Desalination is actually a supply-side management tool taken by the government to preserve preferred quality of drinking water, reclamation of water used by domestic households with immensely efficient treatment for other non-drinking purposes (Dziegielewski and Kiefer 2008; Borisova et al. 2009).

Beside the complexities that are typically involved in the production process of drinking water from freshwater sources, desalination of seawater and brackish water, which is a highly developed process that actually combines a set of processes, magnifies the complexities involved in the process of recycling water (Carter, 2013; Cooley and Ajami, 2012). However, as noticed by various researchers (Carter, 2013; Cooley and Ajami, 2012; Clayton, 2006; Chaudhry, 2010; Hill, 2012), the importance of declination is increasing over time. For drinking and domestic activities, commercial and industrial uses, etc., adequate availability of safe water is highly crucial as it determines health and well being of people that in turn plays an important role in the process of economic development (Khalil, 2001; Service, 2006; Carter, 2013).

In real life, in many regions, people have to travel long distances in order to obtain adequate water to continue their life (World Health Organization, 2007). This has caused deterioration in their health conditions and they have been unable to develop their resources and working capabilities so that they can maintain a good life (World Health Organization, 2007). Around 50 years ago, the desalination technologies were introduced. It was costly, but was able to expand access to water (Service, 2006). Researchers like Durham et al. (2001), Service (2006), Hill (2012), etc., have however, opined that with the advancement and improvement of technologies now one can access major quantities of safe water many parts of the world, as the opportunities has expanded through desalination. Nevertheless, some researchers (Chaudry, 2003; Arroyo and Shirazi, 2009; Cooley and Ajami, 2012) have expressed their concerns over greater cost involved with desalination, but recent researches (Hill, 2012; Chaudhry, 2010) have also found a reducing trend in the costs of desalination and in the presence of inadequate water, this relatively more pricey option is being more widely utilized. In the recent years, desalination for indirect potable and non potable applications, like irrigation, has been growing rapidly worldwide. The reason behind this is the acute demand and need of producing more water and efficient utilization to satisfy the need of this ever growing population. (National Research Council (NRC), 2008; Clayton, 2006; Hill, 2012)

In comparison to traditional technologies, mainly applied to relatively good qualities freshwater, the recent technologies are more complex (Arroyo and Shirazi, 2009). Hence, these new technologies are more expensive than traditional technologies (Arroyo and Shirazi, 2009). But, the application of these more expensive processes can be justified as they are applied in areas where the need of freshwater is also very high and existing sources of freshwater can not meet up the demand (Arroyo and Shirazi, 2009).

However, as mentioned before, the cost of new technologies, such as desalination, has been reduced. As cost has been reduced and pressure to develop drought proof water supply has been increased, the interest in the application of desalination for treating sea water, brackish water and contaminated fresh water has grown globally in the United States (Carter, 2013). But, on account of various financial, ecological, social as well as regulatory constraints, implementation of desalination has still remained limited (Carter, 2013).

As noted by Carter (2013), due to sharp fall in costs in recent decades, desalination has become more competitive in comparison to other techniques of increasing freshwater supply. Carter (2013) and Chaudhry (2010) further noticed that the electricity expenses that make almost half of the operational costs of desalination facilities can enhance the cost of desalination if electricity prices rise that would hamper desalination’s competitiveness. Therefore, uncertainties about costs pose a great challenge in the process of large scale implementation of desalination facilities. Besides, questions have also been raised about the environmental impacts of desalination. For example, in a study conducted by World Health Organization (WHO) (2007), it has been found that the intensity of energy used in desalination facilities has raised concerns as it causes emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Some researchers (Carter, 2013; Cooley and Ajami, 2012; Chaudhry, 2010) have found that the nature of social acceptance and regulatory norms also influence the adoption of desalination and the level and type of perceived risks associated with it. However, further research and development in this field might resolve these issues and reduce costs and harmful environmental impacts (Chaudhry, 2010; Lattemann and Hoepner, 2003).

The US Congress is now concerned with its role of in the field of desalination, more specifically in the areas of research and development related to desalination and the related. The federal government has also become much concerned about the regulatory environment for desalination. Realizing the importance of desalination, the US Congress is getting more interested in the roles played by desalination to satisfy the future demands of fresh water. However, in some areas various regulations and availability of other alternatives for waste disposal create some problems for the adoption of desalination technique. (Carter, 2013)

Desalination can be done by employing various methods. Among several methods of desalination, the most common processes are thermal (such as distillation) and membrane (such as reverse osmosis) (Durham et al. 2001). In USA, the reverse osmosis process is mostly used at the time of desalination (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010; Carter, 2013). The federal as well as state governments in USA is making huge investments to build desalination facilities by employing latest technologies so that the operational costs can be curtailed and additional demand for freshwater can be met properly. Florida, California, Texas, etc. are leading the process of implementation of desalination as an effective alternative for treating water and meeting increasing demand for freshwater.

Research Methodology

Increasing demand for municipal and industrial water supply are being made by desalination and membrane technologies in USA (Hill, 2012; National Research Council (NRC), 2008). With increasing importance in the field of meeting augmented demand for freshwater supplies, desalination is being subjected to frequent examinations.

As per the data collection in 2005, about 2000 desalination plants were set up in USA with a total capacity of 1600 MGD, which yielded larger than 0.3 million gallons treated water per day (MGD). Researchers have revealed that demands for two thirds of the municipal water supply for the US are met by the desalination industries and about 18% of the total capacity is used up for this purpose. (Carter, 2013)

Depending on the sources available near a particular region and the level of demand produced by industries and municipalities, the use of desalination for treating water with the latest technologies varies quite significantly (Khalil, 2001; Clayton, 2006). It has been found that in the USA, only 7% of the existing desalination capacity uses seawater as its source, while as much as 25% utilizes river water and more than half uses brackish water for the desalination (Carter, 2013). Then, this water is used up in industries, power plants, and in some commercial applications as well (Carter, 2013). If considered globally, then about 60% of the desalination capacity that has been installed gets seawater as the source water (Carter, 2013). Not only in U.S.A, the rise in need for desalinated water for domestic used is on the rise for other countries across the globe as well (Clayton, 2006). The places mainly with geopolitical and natural barriers are picking up these techniques fast. In this regard, the Middle East countries, Spain, and Australia are taking the leading positions in the field of desalination of water after U.S. The annual production of seawater is maximal from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (Carter, 2013).

However, the greatest desalination capacity has been installed by far in the North Americas, mainly in Florida, California, Texas, and Arizona. However, Florida has been dominating this field of operation and satisfying most of the country’s water requirement through desalination (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010). There is a desalination facility in Tampa Bay situated in Florida and it exemplifies the implementation of a large-scale desalination (Hill, 2012). Texas and California, on the other hand, are making huge progress in this field of desalination with advancement made in the planning stages (Dziegielewski and Kiefer, 2008; Cooley and Ajami, 2012).

Florida has been the pioneer to materialize desalinated groundwater as a source of drinking water (Borisova et al. 2009; Marella, 2008). Starting from the first desalination facility installed in the year of 1969, Florida’s desalination facility has grown immensely. In the initial period, it was just a small electro-dialysis facility set in Siesta Key, but now impressive advancements have been made that has led to more than 150 desalination facilities installed in the region with a combined capacity of more than 515 million gallons per day (MGD) and all of them taken together cover nearly 25 percent of Florida’s total water supply (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010; Marella, 2008). Hence, the present study will consider the case of desalination in Florida and explore it in detail.

The present study that aims at answering the question of how the strategy of higher desalination of water helps in better water supply management in overly populated urban sector, will consider the case study of Florida. The present study will take a qualitative approach to answer the question. The present study does not aim at any hypothesis testing or offering mere description of desalination of water in Florida; rather it wants to go in depth of the topic and hence it will apply an exploratory research design that can best be accomplished by qualitative data.

As far as sources of data is concerned, the present study will use secondary sources, such as relevant articles published in peer-reviewed journals, newspaper articles, documents on desalination available from government websites or published by federal government or government of Florida. Primary data will not be used in this study as it would be very difficult to collect qualitative data. General public living in Florida can not give adequate information about desalination and its effectiveness in water supply management in Florida. Only the people working in federal or state water supply or associated departments or in desalination facilities can offer required information. But, it is quite difficult and time consuming to locate those people and get their consent for the purpose of interviews. This process is costly as well. Hence, secondary data will be used here and content analysis method will be applied to analyze the data obtained from various secondary sources. Some efforts will also be made to compare the desalination in Florida with that of Saudi Arabia as desalination has been quite widespread and highly developed in that region. This comparison will help to understand the current state of desalination in Florida and find out some ways through which existing system of desalination in Florida might be improved in future. This comparison will also be made with the help of secondary data.

Findings and Data Analysis

According to latest survey, it has been found that if Florida does not use its desalination facilities extensively, then it can not meet up its future demand for fresh water. Florida can not depend only on traditional techniques of water supply and/or sources of surface water for fulfilling its water demand in future (Marella, 2008). It is expected that by the year 2025, the water demand of the state is about to rise by more than 25% and it is expected to become 8.7 billion gallons per day (Hill, 2012). A good use of seawater, moderately salty surface and ground waters and recycling of reclaimed and storm water can meet the increasing demands of water in Florida in the coming years (Hill, 2012). Water conservation comes out to be significant in this regard because a cost effective strategy is always in demand. However, the sustainable development of the diverse water resources of the state is also required to be achieved (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010). Florida’s water supply managers have, of late, have identified the process of removing salts from seawater and brackish water sources as the major alternative to meet the increasing demands (Borisova et al. 2009). This is a good option for those areas where the desalination facilities bank heavily on rainfall only. There is no chance of drought when these alternatives being adopted (Marella, 2008).

The data that tells the number of facilities using the desalination process (more than 140) and the gallons of drinking water produced each day (about 515 million gallons), clearly reveals that Florida is undoubtedly the leader in the desalination industry (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010). However, care is being taken, predominantly in coastal regions of south Florida as well as Central Florida to ensure that the drinking water sources are not used excessively (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010). Presently, moderately salty ground and surface water is being used to be treated at the desalination plants instead of extremely salty water except a few plants in Florida (Borisova et al. 2009). The name that is worth mentioning while talking about desalination in Florida is the Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Facility (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010; Hill 2012). Other desalination facilities including the Coquina Coast project situated in Flagler County in Northeast Florida is also worth to mention as it is trying to avail the land-based and new ship-based methods to use salty seawater for reclaiming freshwater by using latest desalination technologies (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010).

In Florida, mainly reverse osmosis (RO) is the dominant method used for desalination and it is also followed in most of the plants in USA (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010). Probably the cost is the reason behind choosing this technology. Use of more energy efficient pumps, longer lasting membranes, and combination of accessible technologies like distillation have been the recent modifications in the process of desalination in order to trim down the costs associated with the process of desalination (Hill, 2012).

The significant factors that are affecting the environmental assessment, monitoring and regulation of desalination facilities situated in Florida include the available varieties of source water, such as surface or ground water and/or salty or brackish water, the desalination technology adopted, and the method of management implemented. Coupled with these is the factor of energy consumption, which is high for the desalination plants. Besides, the greenhouse gas emission is high and it has become a major concern in Florida. (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010)

The House Bill 199 passed at the time of the 2008 Florida Legislative session put emphasis on saltwater treatment to generate potable water (Hill, 2012). It also made sure that the Department of Environmental Protection would work hand in hand with the Water Management Districts to find out the utility of the technology in Florida (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010). The bill also made provision for examination and analysis of existing desalination technologies in the state and offering suggestions to successfully put into practice desalination cost effectively and environment friendly ways (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010).

In different places situated in Florida, decreasing supplies of groundwater have led to marking the areas as places of critical water supply, water resource or water use caution areas by the water management districts of the state (Hill, 2012). These markings have led to the restrained use of water and rigid conditions for getting, renewing or escalating the distribution of water allowed by consumptive use permits (Hill, 2012). For instance, water management districts in Central Florida came to the conclusion that supply of water for public use from conventional groundwater sources in the coming twenty years is not sustainable (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010).

In some cases, extraction of groundwater has influenced the spring flows and wetlands in Florida. So, Southwest and South Florida and St. Johns River water management districts have joined in order to ascertain the amount of the available supplies of freshwater withdrawn form groundwater sources in the locality and recognize substitute water sources to satisfy the requirements of water of Central Florida. These districts are also trying to develop long term regulations by the year 2013. (Hill, 2012; Marella, 2008 )

It can be easily seen that Florida is unable to satisfy its future requirement for water only by conventional surface and ground water sources. Florida should start diversifying its sources of water supply for including a series of environment friendly substitutes such as conservation and reuse of storm water, collection of surface water from wet-weather flows, brackish ground and surface waters and saltwater and making them potable through desalination (Marella, 2008).

Florida is the forerunner in the usage of desalination technology in the nation as already mentioned. Florida is ranking first in terms of manufacturing of potable drinking water, followed by California (Borisova et al. 2009). This illustrates the increasing population of the state particularly throughout the southern and central coastal regions, and the limited presence of freshwater. Hence, the state has put huge emphasis on desalination. Mainly the water that is treated at the desalination plants present in Florida is not salty but mainly it is less salty brackish surface and ground waters. (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010)

Florida is, however, facing a few challenges with respect to desalination and some effective steps should be taken to deal with these challenges so that desalination can emerge as a better alternative to manage water supply in the region in comparison with traditional water supply techniques.

Utilization of desalination of seawater in Florida includes various technological as well as non-technological challenges. Among non-technological challenges, problems such as acceptance of the new process by public, water rates, governance and finance, and existing laws can illustrate considerable limitations to development of appropriate water supply management than the technical problems (Hill, 2012).

Florida has set up requirements for brackish water services. The jobs of water supply, the procedure of treatment and discharge of concentrate are distributed and understood properly throughout Florida (Hill, 2012). This is not same in case of seawater based desalination projects. The basic characteristics of seawater projects are the main hurdle in permitting desalination in Florida. The projects of seawater are beyond the boundary of the state and are situated in the coastal and marine environments, and thus the legal system enforced on them can be different. Although the regulatory agencies of Florida have been able to allow and authorize seawater desalination services faster than some of the other states, but there are still some discrepancies in case of handling permit in Florida and rules regarding desalination of seawater must be altered. (Hill, 2012; Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2010)

Another important limitation in case of implementation of desalination in Florida is funds, especially in the economic era when utility and budgets of consumer are restricted (Hill, 2012). In the past, the districts of water management have given money to the projects of substitute water supply and half of the funding of Tampa Bay Water seawater desalination service was done by SWFWMD (Hill, 2012; Borisova et al. 2009). The districts are also interested in continuing the funding, but in case of decrease in tax base and lack of state budget, these funds may be less important compared to the past, even when substitute water supplies are required at greater extent (Hill, 2012).

On the basis of the amount of seawater or brackish water available in a water supply utility, adding of one of the novel sources can affect the water rates of customer hugely. So, it is important that the services continue to have a balanced portfolio of water supply, look for monetary assistance in order to reduce the rate effects on consumers and understand the effect of the addition of desalinated water and its effect on consumers (Borisova et al. 2009).

Sometimes public acceptance creates huge problem to desalination, especially in case of seawater desalination is the opposition of the public. As a result, public must be included during the process of implementation and planning (Hill, 2012). Now a days, the consumers of water have more information than consumers of past. Correct as well as wrong data is very easily assessable because of computer. The internet can provide huge amount of data and it can also provide deceptive and misinterpreted data. Some people utilize the internet for distributing data against desalination in the name of customer or environmental protection.

The water supply agencies of Florida need to address all these challenges effectively in order to implement desalination effectively throughout the state and make it a major source of potable water that will be sustained over long term.

Funding of Desalination

Government agencies mainly offer funding for desalination in Florida as well as throughout the nation. The federal and state governments have invested a lot of money in research and development related to desalination, implemented some demonstration projects, and selected full-scale facilities by using the funds allotted directly by the Congress (Carter, 2013). The federal government is also supporting building of desalination facilities in the municipal areas through loans provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Funds (Carter, 2013). In case of majority of municipal desalination projects, local governments or public water management agencies in association with state government and loans extended by the federal government have been taking the responsibilities of planning, assessing, constructing, and operating desalination facilities. They are also treating freshwater drinking water supplies (Carter, 2013). During recent Congressional conference, a number of legal proposals have recognized quite a few possible roles of federal government in the process of desalination. It has mainly been incorporated as in the most recent fiscal years, there has been a fall in assistance on the part of the federal government for desalination.

Conclusion

The term desalination is comparatively a new term in the field of water supply management, and hence, there is a huge requirement for the public and other stakeholders to understand this process in detail. From the present research, it is obvious that general public still does not have proper understating of the topic. People are still showing inhibitions with respect to seawater desalination in particular. Moreover, due to costs factors, government agencies are also not implementing desalination at the desired rate, even if it has increased much more than before.

When people perceive desalination initiative as just another mode of water supply, they may not be able to understand its actual and total impact, and equally they might not be willing to offer their full acceptance towards it. Hence, proper initiatives should be taken to educate people about desalination as people living in USA or in other countries across the globe can no longer sustain only on traditional freshwater supplies.

In addition to educate people about desalination, it is also necessary to arrange for required funds. The desalination initiatives are lacking sufficient funding. Realizing the benefits of desalination federal and state government should arrange more larger funds for installing more desalination facilities as the country is going to face huge demand for freshwater supplies in near future that cannot be met completely with traditional sources only. Thus, with proper knowledge of people and greater assistance offered by government agencies, desalination holds the future of water supply management in USA.

Reflection

The biggest challenge that I faced at the time of conducting the research was time and resources. Combining my study with the project has created time constraints for me. Moreover, settling at a new place, getting habituated with it and building enough relationship with new place and people was also a big challenge.

Another challenge that I faced at the time of conducting this study was formulating specific research questions for my study as a lot of alternatives were available and it was quite difficult to select a specific topic and associated question.

This research has also helped me to explore the opportunity of interacting openly with different people in an academic field to gather more knowledge about my subject and get their opinions. It has also given me an opportunity to use my data collection skills. Thus, I am not more confident about my future research endeavors. Finally, the most important benefit that I have obtained by conducting this research was a deep insight about my chosen topic, i.e. desalination.

References

Clayton, R. (2006). Desalination for Water Supply. Retrieved on November 16th, 2013, from

http://www.fwr.org/desal

.

America’s Authority in Membrane Treatment. (2007). Future of Desalination in the United States. Retrieved on November 16, 2013, from

www.amtaorg.com/wpcontent/uploads/11_FutureofDesal

.

National Research Council (NRC). (2008). Desalination: A National Perspective. National Research Council. National Academies Press. Retrieved on November 17, 2013, from

http://www.nap.edu

.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection (2010). Desalination in Florida: A Brief Review of the Technology, Environmental Issues and its Implementation. Tallahassee, Florida: Division of Water Resource Management- Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Chaudhry, S. (2010). Energy Challenges and Opportunities in Desalination. Presented at U.S. Department of Energy Industrial Water Use and DesalinationWorkshop, Tampa, FL, February 24-25, 2010.

Hill, C. J. (2012). Florida BrackishWater and Seawater Desalination: Challenges and Opportunities. Florida Water Resources Journal, September 2012, 22-28.

Chaudry, S. (2003). Unit cost of desalination. California, USA: California Energy Commission.

Arroyo, J. and Shirazi, S. (2009). Cost of Water Desalination in Texas. Retrieved on November 15th, 2013, from

http://www.twdb.texas.gov/innovativewater/desal/doc/

Cooley, H. and Ajami, N. (2012). Key Issues for Desalination in California: Cost and Financing. Retrieved November 5, 2013, from http://www.pacinst.org/reports/desalination_2013/ financing_final_report .

Carter, N. T. (2013). Desalination and Membrane Technologies: Federal Research and Adoption Issues. Congressional Research Service.

World Health Organization. (2007). Desalination for Safe Water Supply- Guidance for the Health and Environmental Aspects Applicable to Desalination. Geneva: World Health Organization.

Durham, B., Bourbigot, M. M. and Panktatz, T. (2001). Membranes as pre-treatment to desalination in wastewater reuse: Operating experience in the municipal and industrial sectors. Desalination, 138, 83-90.

Service, R. F. (2006). Desalination freshens up. Science, 313, 1088-1090.

Khalil, E.E. (2001). Potable Water Technology Development. Desalination, 136, 57-62.

Lattemann, S. and Hoepner, T. (2003). Seawater Desalination, Impacts of Brine and Chemical Discharges on the Marine Environment. L’Aquila, Italy: Desalination Publications.

EPA- United Stated Environment Protection Agency. (2013). Water Supply in the U.S. Retrieved on November 17th, 2013 from

http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/pubs/supply.html

.

Dziegielewski, B. and Kiefer. J.C. (2008). U.S. Water Demand, Supply and Allocation: Trends and Outlook. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Marella, R.L. (2008). Water Use in Florida, 2005 and Trends 1950–2005. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Water Management District Headquarters.

Borisova, T., Rawls, C. And Admas, D. (2009). Balancing Urban Water Demand and Supply in Florida: Overview of Tools Available to Water Managers. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL: Food and Resource Economics Department.

Actually, there are lots of studies and secondary data set that will help in my topic. In addition the study will includes a case study and I can use some journal articles for some important information on the cases.

I can use various official sites to access their reports of desalination in Florida. For example, I have found out an official site of South Florida Water Management district

http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xweb%20-%20release%203%20water%20supply/desalination

that has published a number of reports on desalination that can be effectively used as secondary data in this case study. Since the research is a qualitative study I can gather necessary reports to collect secondary data set.

Here are some links that will help to collect data:

http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xweb%20-%20release%203%20water%20supply/desalination
for some secondary data (numerical figures including a trend analysis).

For more information on desalination in South Florida:

2012 Potable Water Desalination Plants in the SFWMD

Facilities Using Brackish Groundwater and Seawater in South Florida

Growth of Desalination Facilities within the SFWMD

2-There are links for some reports that will also be helpful to collect qualitative data (they are not literature or journal articles, they are simple reports from the water supply districts and state of Florida.

i. http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/publications/files/watersupply

ii.http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/docs/desalination-in-florida-report

iii.

http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xrepository/sfwmd_repository_pdf/waterdesalinationconcentratemgmtpiloting-dec09-carollo

iv.

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/waterpolicy/docs/factsheets/wrfss-desalination

I can also find some more links as we proceed with the study.