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How much of one year's Californian energy use would wipe out the drought?

bombastic bob Silver badge

"But what exactly would you plan to do with all of that salt? And whatever other impurities might be pulled out?"

well, in all practical sense, we're just going to put it all back where we found it in the FIRST place!

The solution to pollution, is DILUTION! When the result is 'below minimum detectability', it is ZERO. So use a long effluent pipe, send it out to deep water, mix it with sea water along the way, and let it go, let it go, and it won't hurt any organisms [to the tune of some disney earworm, heh]

but it wouldn't hurt to sample the water on occasion to make sure the levels of salt, etc. aren't increasing. Good engineering up front would prevent that, then occasionally monitor. No discharging inside of a harbor or bay, where water may not mix with the rest of the ocean, etc.

And I like someone else's comment about reclaimed sewer water. They're doing that in San Diego county in a few places, jokingly called "toilet to tap". It's a great idea. Effluent from sewage treatment is probably CLEANER than what N. California sends via aqueduct.

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