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California Drinking Water Protected by Wastewater Recycling SACRAMENTO, California, January 28, 2002 (ENS) - Golf courses in California's San Ramon Valley east of San Francisco will soon be able to stop spraying drinkable water on their greens. Area parks will no longer spray water on their playing fields that could be used as drinking water. Over the next 10 to 15 years, the San Ramon Valley Recycled Water Project will deliver 21 million gallons of recycled water daily to large irrigation customers such as parks, golf courses, business parks, greenbelts and roadways. Recycled or reclaimed water is wastewater that has been highly treated and disinfected to meet strict California Department of Health Services regulations.
Common area landscaping of residential developments and some new commercial buildings may receive recycled water for toilet flushing, but the recycled water is not intended to serve individual single family homes. Residents of single family homes will benefit because more potable water will be available, especially during times of drought. The Dublin-San Ramon Services District East Bay Municipal Utility District Recycled Water Authority (DERWA) will be able to move ahead on the project due to one grant and one loan totaling $24 million approved by California Governor Gray Davis last week. DERWA is responsible for planning, design, construction and operation of the treatment facilities, along with the pipeline supply system, pumping and storage facilities. Once the system is operational, the recycled water will replace the existing potable water supply for irrigation uses. "California's water resources are the lifelines of our State," Governor Davis said. "Keeping our water clean and drinkable has been a top priority for Californians. These funds will help protect California's precious water resources." The San Ramon Valley water recycling project is one of six water resource protection programs authorized by Governor Davis to receive loans or grants totaling $88 million. The funding was approved by California voters as the Water Bond of 2000 (Proposition 13), which authorized $2 billion in funding for clean water and safe parks. The governor also approved a $4.4 million grant for the East Bay Municipal Utility District across the bay from San Francisco to begin the first phase of the East Bayshore Recycled Water Project. When completed, the project will provide 700,000 gallons of recycled water daily for irrigation and industrial uses in the cities of Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville and Oakland.
In Orange County, just south of Los Angeles, a $5 million grant has been approved to help the Orange County Water District construct a water recycling facility to replace a 30 year-old facility. The project includes construction of a water recycling facility to produce 78,000 acre feet of recycled water. The increase will reinforce and expand the original seawater barrier and provide more groundwater recharge to the local basins. Once completed, the Ground Water Replenishment (GWR) System will provide a new source of water for northern Orange County residents beginning in 2005. The system will take highly treated sewer water from the Orange County Sanitation District, currently sent to the ocean, and purify it meet drinking water standards. Using high-tech processing, the GWR System will treat the sewer water with 100 percent reverse osmosis - a purification system used by many bottled water companies - microfiltration and ultraviolet disinfection technologies. The result will be a high quality, but not a drinkable water. Some of the recycled water will be injected underground near the coast to keep ocean salt water from contaminating the fresh water in the Orange County underground basin. The remaining water will be transported through a 13 mile pipeline to a percolation pond in northern Orange County. There the water will be filtered again, like rain water, as it seeps into the ground and enters Orange County’s deep aquifers to become part of the future supply of drinking water. The groundwater basin is the main source of water for 2.2 million residents of Orange County. The Orange County Water District is a special water agency created by the California Legislature in l933 to maintain and manage the huge groundwater basin under northern Orange County. The groundwater basin supplies 75 percent of the water needs to cities south of Los Angeles including Anaheim, Huntington and Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin, and Yorba Linda.
The Orange County Water District owns 2,150 acres behind Prado Dam in Riverside County, California. Prado Dam is a key component for increasing local water supplies in Orange County. Historically, storm flows from the Santa Ana River have been lost to the ocean because flood control took precedence over water conservation. However, a series of agreements between Orange County Water District, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have allowed the District to conserve water behind the dam in a seasonal storage pool. Within this area lies nearly 465 acres of constructed wetlands, which have demonstrated the ability to reduce nitrogen levels in Santa Ana River water. The Santa Ana River is the main source of recharge for the vast Orange County groundwater basin, and consists primarily of tertiary treated wastewater from upstream dischargers. The river also receives storm flows, natural run-off, and rising goundwater, especially during winter months. The wetland consists of a system of 50 shallow ponds that have been utilized to remove nitrogen in river water since July 1992.
Farther south near San Diego, a loan and grant package totaling $36 million was approved for the Carlsbad Water District in San Diego County to begin Phase II of the Encina Basin Water Reclamation Program. The district, located in the City of Carlsbad, will receive a $31 million loan and a $5 million grant to assist in the construction of a project which will substitute recycled wastewater instead of fresh water to irrigate landscaping. Because San Diego is in a semi-arid region that gets little rainfall, it must import about 90 percent of its water from the Colorado River and Northern California. "One of the wisest uses of water is to give it a second chance," says the Carlsbad Municipal Water District, "to use it again after it is flushed down the drain at our homes and businesses. This process is called recycling wastewater, or water recycling. It’s a lot like cleaning and reusing your clothes when they get dirty." The City of Carlsbad already has 26 miles of recycled distribution pipeline. This distribution system currently supplies 58 recycled use sites. The sites served by recycled water include the Four Seasons Resort at Aviara, Legoland of California and the world renowned Flower Fields. Recycled water is not suitable for drinking. Recycled water customers must post informational signs, mark sprinkler heads, and valving, and ensure that there are no cross-connections between the potable and recycled systems. Improper cross-connections could result in the flow of reclaimed water into the drinking water system. Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All rights reserved. |
Golf courses like this one in the San
Ramon Valley will soon be able to irrigate with recycled water.
(Photo courtesy 
Anaheim Lake, one of the Orange County Water
District's recharge basins (Photo courtesy Orange County Water
District (OCWD))
Constructed wetlands behind Prado Dam
(Photo courtesy OCWD)
Irrigating with recycled water
(Photo courtesy Carlsbad Water District)