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In 1972, after 31 years 01 funding both seawater and brackish water desalting research In private Industry and government agencies, and after publishing more than 600 reports con- cerned with the art and science oJ desalting, the OSW was discontinued. The published reports, known as the QSW greenback repol1s, Me clas- sics In the Industry. With the demise of OSW, Reclamation desalt- ing became more project oriented than research oriented. Reclamation desalting experts con- tinued work under the Colorado RIver Basln Salinity Control Program. Extensive testing was done under this program at Laverldn Springs, Utah, where highly brackish water Will treated with Reverse Osmosis. In 1973, when President RichArd Nixon signed an agreement with President LulJ; Echeverrla 01 Mex1co promising that lhe United Sates would control thClllalUtlty 01 water delivered to Mexico, the decision wu made to build the Yuma Desllltlng Plant. To work out procurement and construction details of the plant, II. desalting design team was formed In Redamatlon's Denver olllce. One of the lint actions of the group was to Issue a request lor proposals to membrane manulacturers asking them to submit proposals. They were requested to prov:lde their equipment lor testing. at no cost to the government, at a desalting test racUlty near Yuma. Arizona. The response was excellent. More than 11 Reverse Osmosis and electrodialysis manufac- turers expressed Interest In partiCipating. Thus began an Industry..wldf! test program at the Yuma Desalting Test Facility which lasted for more than lour years. l...a.rge full-slze desalting units were tested. There wue Reverse Osmolll5 modules as large as 12 Inches In dlametl!r and electrodialysis unJts stand1ns more than nine feet high. .~., 3040 Reclamation supplied pretreated water to the test un[t5 at a rate of more than 700 g4.l10ns per minute. The Yuma Desalting Test laclllty program detennlned that the spiral wound Reverse Os- mosis concept Will the process of choice for the large Yuma Desalting Plant. Eventually, all 72 million gallons per day of the Yuma Desaltlng Plant capacity were awarded to two spiral wound Reverse Osmosls manufacturers. At the Yuma Desalting Test Facility, Reclama- tion research also revealed that the partial lime softening process was the bClJt pretreatment op- tion lor the large plant. Today, three 185-loot diameter solids contact reactors, using a partial lime softening prOCess, can supply clear pretreated water to Reverse Osmosis membranes In the Yuma Desalting Plant. Reclamation'. materlala research also revealed that aluminum bron:!e piping showed the beat corrosion resistance to the saline agricultural drain water being: processed by the Yuma Desalting: Plant. Accordingly, the high pressure plplng..header sy&tem for the large Yuma Desalting Plant Is today made 01 aluminum bronze. r::.:-.'C{" " ;-'~.'> ~'~"., lting Plant ruction The u.s. BUTealJ 01 Reclamation hM more than 50 years of experience In the design and construction of large clvU structures. Reclama- tion has constructed three 01 the world's largest dams-Hoover, Grand Coulee, and Glen Canyon. Agency experlIln foundations, materials, hydraullcs, and electric power, administration, specification writing and contracting con- centrated their ellorts on designing and con- structing the Yuma Desalting Plant. The plant, u It exists today, represents the finest demonstration 01 Joint ellort between private Industry and government. It Is a true ex- ample or how prlV1lte Industry working with government agencies can not only develop new desalting processes, but can contribute silt nlflcantly to Important national and Intematlon- al objectives. esalting & Water eatment Activities Today, the Bureau of Reclamation Is In- volved not only in Reverse Osmosis and electrodialysis desalting but also in general chemical/physical procee8es In which only speclllc Ions such as heavy metals or nutrients are to be removed. Reclamation recently com- pleted design work on an arsenic removal plant for Udgerwood, North Dakota, and a heavy metal removal plant In Leadville, Colorado. Reclamation holds patents on a speCial selenium removal process which hopefully can be appHed to the difficult selenium problems In the Central Valley 01 California. Reclamation en- gineers are workIng on trichloroethylene removal plants at Hili Air Force Base, Utah, and Warren Air Force Base In North Dakota. In Grand Junction, Colorado, Reclamation Is building a 35-megawaU gas-fired cogeneration plant with a 1,580 gallons-per-mLnute brine con- centrator. The unit will remove 200 tons 01 salt per day Irom hlghly saline spring waters to prevent thl!! salt Irom entering the Colorado River. Rec:lllmatlon recently Installed a 5,000 gal- lon..per-day multHtage nash distillation unit In El Paso, Texas, on a3j..acre solar pond. In the sprtng of 1990, Reclamation will be Involved, In a well head testing program In the Riverside and RaInbow Water Districts of Southern California. This progr4m Is aimed at recovl!!rlng unusable groundwater lor domestic use. In Its Denver and Yuma olllce5, Reclamation contlnues rese./lrch on various aspects of the Yuma Desa.ltlng Plant. particular attention Is devoted to the area of membrane preservation during plant shutdown. Features for the dis- posal or blocldes at the Yuma plant are sUll under study by Recla.mal!on designers and re- searchenl. The Yuma Desalting Plant started operallng on May 7, 1992, and wlll ron at one-third capacity for most of 1992. ',.