CARLSBAD – Poseidon Resources' pilot desalination plant has won a prestigious engineering honor.

The American Academy of Environmental Engineers awarded the plant its grand prize for excellence in environmental engineering for research at a ceremony this month in Washington, D.C.

Poseidon proposes to develop a 50 million-gallon-a-day desalination plant on the grounds of the Encina Power Station, located on Agua Hedionda Lagoon at the foot of Cannon Road.

The pilot plant has been producing potable water from seawater as a demonstration since January 2003.