REVIEW OF 1967 FISCAL YEAR PROGRAM OF THE OFFICE OF SALINE WATER, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1966

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

IRRIGATION AND RECLAMATION SUBCOMMITTEE

OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS,

Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 9:50 a.m., in the committee room, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Walter Rogers of Texas (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. ROGERS of Texas. The Subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation will come to order for consideration of pending business.

We are scheduled this morning to hear a review of the 1967 fiscal year program of the Office of Saline Water. We have with us the Honorable Kenneth Holum, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Power, and Mr. Frank C. DiLuzio, Director of the Office of Saline Water.

Mr. Secretary, I understand you have a statement and also Mr. DiLuzio, and the Chair will recognize you at this time and then we will recognize Mr. DiLuzio and try to get both statements in before the questions.

Mr. HOLUM. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

STATEMENT OF KENNETH HOLUM, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WATER AND POWER DEVELOPMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. HOLUM. It is a little over a year ago since Director DiLuzio and I appeared before this committee in the early days of the 89th Congress for a briefing and review session of the program being carried forward in the Department of the Interior in the field of water desalting.

The review at that time was extensive, penetrating, and I told the members of the committee at the conclusion of that briefing session that it had been an extremely useful day as far as the Department of the Interior was concerned and we hoped very much it would be possible for the committee to give similar opportunities to review our work with you.

For that reason Director DiLuzio and I are very happy to have this opportunity to appear again this morning before this distinguished and important committee of the Congress to review the work that we are carrying forward in this field in the Department.

A year ago, when we appeared before this committee, Director DiLuzio was new to his responsibility in the Office of Saline Water. For that reason I felt obliged to assume the major portion of the responsibility of presenting our program to the committee and discussing it with you.

The Director has been with us now over a year. In the Departmen: we have complete confidence and tremendously impressed with the leadership he has given to this important program. While I intend to be with the committee as long as this briefing and review session continues today, I shall leave to the Director the major responsibility of presenting his program to you and discussing it with you.

My own prepared statement is brief. I think I can save the committee's time by reading it essentially as it has been submitted to you in advance.

Last year, acting on the recommendations of the President, this committee proposed and the Congress enacted new legislation providing a vastly expanded research and development effort and extended the Office of Saline Water program from fiscal year 1967 through fiscal year 1972.

Employing these new tools, the Office of Saline Water has moved the research and development program steadily forward. Our technology is showing constant improvement as we continue to learn more about saline waters and the most economical and feasible methods of desalting them.

An exciting aspect of the new program is its emphasis upon the development of large-scale, dual-purpose water and powerplants. As a beginning step in this area, the Office of Saline Water entered into contracts for conceptual design studies with 15 of the Nation's outstanding manufacturing and engineering firms.

In addition, feasibility studies for large-scale, dual-purpose plants were conducted with the Metropolitan Water District of California and the State of Israel. In each case the Atomic Energy Commission was involved as well. Also included in the new program was a provision for testing large modules to produce further design data on which the construction of large-scale plants would be based."

The overall program has been moving ahead in an orderly manner. The conceptual design studies have produced worthwhile results, which are now being fully analyzed for use in designing the modules. The modules, in turn, are expected to begin producing results sometime next year, and will be applicable directly to large plant designs.

The Israel and the metropolitan water district studies, which we consider landmark studies, have been completed. These studies are based on multistage flash process. We believe they will lead to the construction by these entities of the first large-scale desalting plants in this Nation or abroad. Either plant will double the desalting capacity in the world.

When the discussion of these two potential projects reach a definitive stage on all points, including cooperative financial arrangements that would be appropriate for our Government to consider, we shall provide this committee with a full and complete report and make the necessary recommendations for your consideration.

As you know, the study conducted by the Bechtel Corp. for the Interior Department, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the metro

politan water district indicated the feasibility of a dual-purpose plant capable of producing 150 million gallons of water per day, along with 1,800 megawatts of nuclear-produced power.

The study estimates a water cost of 22 cents per thousand gallons at plantsite. In the case of Israel, a 100-million-gallon-per-day plant was studied, coupled with a 200-megawatt nuclear powerplant, which would produce water at an estimated 28.6 cents per thousand gallons at a 5-percent fixed charge rate, and 43.4 cents per thousand gallons at 7-percent fixed charges

During this past year we have used results of the MWD studies to appraise the possibility of droughtproofing the New York metropolitan area through desalting. This is the first time desalting has been considered in a so-called humid area. The study is now being completed. Thus far, we are encouraged by the prospective results.

One advantage of desalting is that it is largely immune to variations in natural rainfall. Even so, from an economic point of view, desalting is not now competitive in the New York area. Further improvements in technology, or growing competition for the use of natural available supplies could, however, rapidly alter this situation.

How

Because of the leadtime required, desalination cannot be employed to provide immediate relief from drought once it is upon us. ever, it appears that desalting plants, built on a standby basis to existing systems, could have an important role to play in meeting drought situations.

I think one of the interesting things that has come out of this study or been confirmed by it is the fact that increments of water are like increments of power; to meet peak demands or to meet unusual demands in drought situations are expensive and we have strong reason to believe, as a result of this study, that as the technology develops, the desalting may well prove to be the cheaper method of providing these increments in specific situations.

As our studies on actual processes continue and we approach the question of applying desalting techniques in certain areas, the question of brine disposal especially from brackish waters-will need further exploration and consideration.

In the continued development of the multistage, multieffect flash distillation program, we have been hampered somewhat by the lack of a large plant from which to obtain actual operating experience. This will be rectified shortly. On March 31, bids will be opened for construction of a new, 1-million-gallon-per-day plant in San Diego. Meanwhile, our work on this important process has continued by means of smaller pilot plants and conceptual designs of very large plants.

In the past year a number of other nations exhibited a vigorous interest in the desalting program. This show of interest from all over the world can best be summed up, perhaps, by pointing to the singular success of the first international symposium on water desalination held here last October. This symposium was the largest international meeting ever sponsored in Washington, D.C., by the U.S. Government, attracting more than 2,500 delegates and observers from 55 nations of the world.

More than 100 technical papers were presented, covering every phase of desalting, both in the United States and elsewhere. Full

disclosure of work underway in other countries, coupled with open and frank discussions of the merits of the various processes, helped to bring participants up to date on the current state of the art and will serve to eliminate duplication of effort and to stimulate scientific thinking on new approaches to the desalting problem.

Another result of the symposium was to provide a better understanding and realization of the existing interest-even from countries and areas not previously considered as potential candidates for desalting-in considering desalting as a means of meeting their constantly growing demands for municipal and industrial water supplies. Two important agreements were signed during the symposium. In one, the Department entered into an agreement with the Saudi Arabian Government whereby the Office of Saline Water will act as technical manager for design and construction of a plant that will desalt 5 million gallons of water per day and generate 36,000 kilowatts of electric power for the city of Jidda. The Saudi Arabian Government will fund the total construction cost.

In the second agreement, the United States and Mexico, together with the International Atomic Energy Agency, will undertake a study of the feasibility of utilizing dual-purpose plants to meet the growing water and power needs in the Mexican States of Baja, California, and Sonora, and in portions of Arizona and California.

In speaking to those assembled at the White House for the signing of this agreement, President Johnson noted that they had come to Washington to search together for a common solution to a common problem and added:

No event could hold more promise for the peace and progress of man. No international gathering ever met for a more important purpose.

If science can unlock the door to an unlimited supply of pure, drinkable water, it will be an event in human history as significant as the harnessing of the atom.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I want to say that the Department of the Interior is fully aware that the eyes of the water-short areas of the United States as well as every arid area in the world, are focused upon the desalting program as a possible solution to some of the present and developing water problems.

We believe we have made progress in advancing knowledge and technology. We are keenly cognizant of the fact that there is a great deal of work yet to be done. With the guidance and assistance of the Congress, and the continued cooperation of industry and the scientific and engineering community, we believe we will continue to make sound progress.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ROGERS of Texas. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Mr. DiLuzio, if you will proceed with your statement, we will then go into the question period.

Mr. DILUZIO. Mr. Chairman, I would like to highlight the statement. It is rather lengthy; it was written to provide a complete record from which I will try to bring out the important factors.

Mr. ROGERS of Texas. Without objection, your entire statement will be included in the record, Mr. DiLuzio, and you may summarize it. (Statement follows:)

STATEMENT OF FRANK C. DILUZIO, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF SALINE WATER,
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, last May, when we appeared before this committee seeking your approval of H.R. 7092, a bill to expand, extend, and accelerate the saline water conversion program, we agreed to keep the committee informed of our program activities. You may recall that I told the committee at that time that we recognize that we do not have all the wisdom in the world, that we can make mistakes, and that we ought to periodically be required to defend our program.

In order to stand behind that statement, we wrote the chairman of the committee on January 21, and asked to be advised of a convenient date to brief the committee. We are pleased by the chairman's prompt response to our request, and we are glad to have this opportunity today to describe our program activities. During the past months we have received several requests for information from some of the members of the committee concerning certain specific activities or programs. We have endeavored to respond both promptly and completely to those requests. We hope our efforts in this regard have been satisfactory. As we appear here today, we feel somewhat like a farmer who was finishing his plowing one Sunday morning as the minister of the local church drove by. "Brother," said the minister, "don't you know the Creator made the world in 6 days and rested on the seventh?"

"I know," said the old farmer, "but He got done and I didn't."

We didn't get done either, but in a technological sense, we think we plowed a lot of ground.

Initially, we should like to report on our program for fiscal year 1967. Our budget estimate is $30,946,000. It consists of $28,595,000 for research and development and $2,351,000 for operation and maintenance costs of demonstration plants. This represents an increase in the amount appropriated for research and development of $8,595,000 and a decrease of $134,000 for demonstration plants operation and maintenance and $666,000 for the Point Loma replacement. Our budget estimate for research and development does not utilize $6.4 million of the funds authorized by Congress for fiscal year 1967, as provided by Public Law 89-118.

We should like to point out that increase of $8,595,000 for our research and development program is a gross figure which may give a distorted impression of our programed activities for fiscal year 1967. A careful analysis of the allocation of funds for various projects, which will follow later in this statement, will reveal that we are increasing our general level of effort by only $1.5 million. The balance of the increase is for the procurement of hardware.

The progress report of the Committee on Water Resources Research of the Office of Science and Technology defines research as follows:

"Research is systematic, intensive study directed toward fuller scientific knowledge of the subject studies. Such study covers both basic and applied research." The report also provides the following definition of development: Development is the systematic use of scientific knowledge directed toward the production of useful materials, devices, systems, or methods, including design and development of prototype and processes. It excludes quality control or routine product testing.

We are in full accord with those definitions. We do not believe we should engage in routine testing, but rather to continue research and development through to the last step in order to technically cultivate a process to the point where it can be applied commercially as a reliable and practical method of providing fresh water for a city or a community.

To meet our responsibility to the President, the Congress, and in turn to the taxpayer, we believe it would be unwise for us or anyone else to proceed with plans for large plant construction until additional usable data has been developed and refined to a point from which we can move forward with the assurance that future desalting plants will represent the most advanced extension of the art within bounds of sound engineering extrapolation. To develop this type of information, we are faced with the requirement of constructing larger sized, and obviously more costly, experimental equipment.

The scope of the programs of the Office of Saline Water necessarily includes either the construction and operation of large plants or participation in such projects, in order to accurately establish the economic potential of those processes that are capable of producing large volumes of fresh water from saline sources.

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