How California Transports Billions of Tons of Seawater to Solve a 1200 Year Drought

California is facing its worst drought in over 1,200 years. As the world’s 5th largest economy, providing 1/3 of the vegetables and 2/3 of the fruits for the entire United States, the pressure on water resources is immense—especially since the agricultural sector consumes up to 80% of the state's fresh water. To solve this, American engineers have deployed massive infrastructure systems to secure a stable water source. Subscribe to the WinD channel now to explore the engineering secrets behind these global Megaprojects!

In this video, we dive deep into the actual technical processes used to realize this massive water network:


Industrial-Scale Desalination Process: Explore how engineers build intake systems using giant carbon steel or HDPE pipes, 2 to 3 meters in diameter, sitting deep on the seafloor hundreds of meters offshore.
Learn about the multi-stage filtration process—from quartz sand tanks to chemical treatment with Sodium Hypochlorite and Ferric Chloride for coagulation. We also go inside the "heart" of the plant: the Reverse Osmosis (RO) system, where high-capacity pumps create 70 Bar of pressure to force water through polymer membranes inside specialized Super Duplex steel piping.
Constructing the Massive Canal System: Discover the construction of the nearly 700-kilometer California Aqueduct. See how massive excavators and automated concrete pavers worked 24/7 to create a canal bed 12 meters wide and 9 meters deep, lined with 10 centimeters of concrete to minimize friction. We examine how engineers calculated the slope with extreme precision so water can flow by gravity for hundreds of miles.

Vunlturing Water with Record-Breaking Pumping: Learn about the Edmonston Pumping Plant, the largest electricity consumer in the California power grid. Here, 14 massive pump units—each as tall as a 4-story building—use 80,000-horsepower engines to push 8,000 liters of water per second to a height of 600 meters in a single lift. We also detail the 100-ton spherical valves that act as steel doors to prevent the destructive "water hammer" effect.

Modern Wastewater Recycling Procedures: Explore the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) in Orange County, where domestic wastewater is reclaimed through a strictly monitored three-step process. This includes Microfiltration using hollow fibers with 0.2-micron pores—300 times smaller than a human hair—and an Advanced Oxidation Process using high-intensity Ultraviolet (UV) light combined with Hydrogen Peroxide to break down molecular contaminants.

Energy Savings: Pressure recovery units save up to 46% of operating electricity.

Thank you for watching! Let us know your thoughts on this megaproject in the comments section.

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