Alden has been involved in the evaluation of alternatives, conceptual design, and biological evaluation of desalination intakes on the East and West Coasts of the U.S. Team members are recognized in the industry and within regulatory agencies as leaders in the development of innovative technologies and have been instrumental in resolving fish protection issues associated with Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act. This rule governs protection of adult fish, eggs, and larvae from impingement on protective screens and entrainment into cooling water systems at thermal power plants. Having authored several authoritative documents on the subjects of fish entrainment and impingement and fish protection technologies, the Team is extremely proficient at determining the potential biological effectiveness of the intake systems preferred for desalination facilities (i.e. velocity caps, modified traveling water screens, cylindrical wedgewire screens, aquatic filter barriers, etc.). Evaluations of biological effectiveness can be performed in Alden’s large laboratory or in the field. In fact, Alden staff led the team that performed the biological sampling conducted at the Tampa Electric Company’s Big Bend Station seawater intake from which Tampa Bay Water’s desalination plant draws its feedwater.
In addition, Alden has the capability to evaluate alternatives for brine discharge in order to optimize mixing and dispersion at desalination outfalls. Both intake and discharge issues can be modeled numerically or physically by Alden’s CFD engineers and hydraulic and physical modelers. Alden maintains a dedicated network of 10 computer workstations used for numerical studies and provides over 120,000 square feet of enclosed laboratory space for physical intake and discharge model studies.
