Agricultural uses of excess steam condensate: Salton Sea geothermal field

Unocal Corporation operated three power generation facilities at the Salton Sea geothermal field through 1993. Condensed steam from these facilities was primarily employed for makeup water to cooling towers. Especially during winter months, however, an excess of condensate was produced that required disposal via water injection wells. Beneficial agricultural uses of this excess condensate were investigated in laboratory and field studies. Condensate proved to have application in leaching saline soils and in irrigating certain crops due to its low salinity, heat, and ammonia (natural nitrogen fertilizer) content. Condensate and Class 1 irrigation water/condensate mixtures generally produced healthier crops than irrigation water alone in both laboratory greenhouse and field tests. Drawbacks to the use of steam condensate for agricultural applications are an elevated boron content that may be toxic to certain plants and the potential for poor penetration of soils