LLNL to host Sacramento public meeting to discuss groundwater monitoring

In support of the State Water Resources Control Board, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will host a public meeting in Sacramento on Dec. 11 to receive public comment on the development of model criteria for groundwater monitoring of oil and gas well stimulation (such as hydraulic fracturing) as it relates to Senate Bill 4 (SB4).SB4, which became law in 2013, requires the State Water...

Lab wins NNSA Sustainability Award

Green might be the color of a beautifully landscaped campus. But at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), gold is the color of success.Since embarking on an ambitious plan this year to conserve water across the board, the Lab saved more than 10 percent of the 240 million gallons of water it consumes annually. That includes letting turf return to California’s natural golden color...

Pilot water conservation project uses treated groundwater for cooling

The Laboratory has launched a pilot project to reduce potable water use by using treated groundwater to cool equipment and research facilities at the main site.Water from one of LLNL's treatment wells is being run through a reverse osmosis filtration unit and used as an alternative to the Hetch-Hetchy water used in the Bldg. 133 cooling tower on the west side of the Lab near Bldg. 132.  Use...

Atmospheric warming altering ocean salinity and the water cycle

A clear change in salinity has been detected in the world's oceans, signaling shifts and acceleration in the global rainfall and evaporation cycle tied directly to climate change. In a paper published Friday (April 27) in the journal Science , Australian scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory...

Lab researcher clarifies water's ionic conductivity

Lab researcher Sebastien Hamel of the Condensed Matter and Materials Division's Quantum Simulation Group has resolved a long-standing issue concerning the evaluation of ionic conductivity in fluids using quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations. Quantum simulations have offered new insight into the microscopic dynamical processes of proton transport and into the interaction of the...