Exploring desalination for the Salton Sea
The Salton Sea Coalition supports larger-scale testing by Sephton Water Technology, Inc. of a desalination approach designed for the Salton Sea’s highly saline water. The project aims to evaluate how this technology could contribute to long-term restoration efforts.
What is VTE-MED desalination?
VTE-MED combines Vertical Tube Evaporators with Multiple Effect Distillation. The process separates water from dissolved salts through evaporation and condensation, reusing heat across multiple stages.
Sephton’s earlier pilot and demonstration work explored this approach for treating Salton Sea water. The proposed larger-scale testing would help evaluate its performance, energy requirements, and operating challenges.
Why this testing matters
The Salton Sea’s high salinity presents challenges for desalination. Sephton has developed thermal desalination processes intended to address those conditions.
Further testing can help establish how the technology performs and provide information needed to assess its potential for broader use. This is a step toward evaluating a possible restoration tool—not a claim that the technology is already proven for full-scale restoration.
The coalition’s role
The Salton Sea Coalition advocates for long-term restoration and supports careful evaluation of promising approaches. We believe transparent testing can help communities, researchers, and decision-makers better understand the available options.
As the project develops, we will share updates about testing plans and opportunities to support the work.
