Numbers and Conclusions
Water's Value and to whom?
Desalinated water has a market across the border, especially within the drought prone regions. Nearly 165 million.
Americans rely on ground-water for drinking water and 37% of total water use is for irrigation.
As irrigation needs increase, water is being pumped faster than it can be naturally replenished. The Central Valley Aquifer in California underlies one of the nation’s most agriculturally productive
regions, but is in drastic decline losing about ten cubic miles of water in just four years.
In order to meet daily agricultural and industrial needs, and the needs of a 100 million population across the ten most drought prone states (Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas), Canada’s desalination system would need to produce at least 238 million barrels (10 billion gallons) daily.
We Need water...
More money from Water
Estimates show it costs Canada about approximately $26.64 to produce a barrel of oil which is sold at $40 to possibly generate
a 33% profit margin. Desalinated water, however, is produced at
$0.17 with a current market value of $0.33 providing a 50% profit
margin.
With Canada oil sands production at 1.7 million barrels per day, it’s
estimated that each barrel represents 1700 KWh (5.8 MBTUs)
of energy. However, less than 1% of this energy (14KWh) can
conveniently produce 23.8 barrels (1000 gallons) of potable water
from a desalination plant.