California has more than a dozen small desalination plants in operation, the Sacramento Bee reports. When the Carlsbad plant comes online, it will produce about 25 times more potable water than all of California's small plants combined.

Poseidon's Carlsbad project is also a major test for the desalination industry in California and the US, which faces steep hurdles to overcome such as the high price of electricity and opposition from environmentalists over concerns that desalination seawater intake pipes and brine discharge harm marine life.

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