The City of Los Angeles will soon begin construction on a $740 million project in the San Fernando Valley to turn wastewater into purified drinking water, expanding the city’s local water supply to prepare for droughts made worse by climate change. It’s planned.
The city plans to break ground next month to begin construction of a new facility at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys. Once completed, the facility will purify treated wastewater and produce 20 million gallons of drinking water per day, enough to supply approximately 250,000 people.
The potable water produced by the plant will be piped 16 miles northeast to the Hansen Plant in L.A. County, where it will flow into a basin where it will percolate into a groundwater aquifer and be stored. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will then pump the water from the well and, after additional testing and treatment, the water will enter pipes and be delivered to faucets.
“This is a huge step forward for the city,” said Jesús Gonzalez, DWP’s water resources manager. He said that through the project, the city will begin using recycled water as a “new source of sustainable and drought-resistant drinking water.”
Aerial view of the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Los Angeles.
(Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment)
The city of Los Angeles has been recycling wastewater for decades, but previously used treated water for outdoor irrigation of golf courses, parks, and other areas. The new facility, scheduled for completion in 2027, will allow the city to begin using purified recycled water as part of its drinking water supply for the first time.
The effort, called the LA Groundwater Recharge Project, was approved by the city’s Water and Power Commission last month. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other city officials said it’s an important part of efforts to invest in local water supplies and reduce dependence on imported supplies, which are becoming less reliable with climate change.
This project has been in the works for 30 years. The city built some of its infrastructure in the 1990s, including pipelines and pumping stations, but plans were scrapped in 2000 after controversy erupted over what opponents and newspaper headlines called the “From Toilet to Water” project. It failed. The issue was raised in the mayor’s campaign and in a 2001 ballot measure calling for the Valley’s separation from the city. Plans were then put on hold and postponed for years.
Meanwhile, Orange County is developing the largest project of its kind in the world, a groundwater replenishment system that currently recycles 130 million gallons of water per day. The system uses a three-stage advanced treatment process to purify wastewater, after which the water percolates and is injected into a groundwater basin, where it becomes part of the supply.
“We intend to build the same type of care system that Orange County has successfully employed for 15 years,” Gonzalez said.
In addition to testing, extensive treatment and purification processes ensure that the drinking water is “incredibly safe once it is pumped and delivered to customers,” he said.
A digital rendering of the advanced water purification facility planned for the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys.
(Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment)
The Tillman plant is one of four wastewater treatment facilities operated by the Los Angeles Department of Sanitation and Environment.
Currently, treated wastewater from the plant is discharged into the Los Angeles River in the Sepulveda Basin, supplying a significant portion of the region’s river flow during the dry season. The water recycling project was designed so that even though purified water is piped in, a stream of treated wastewater flows to maintain the Los Angeles River and its wildlife habitat, Gonzalez said.
To help pay for the new construction, the city secured more than $400 million from the state and federal governments and the Southern California Metropolitan Water District.
Mark Gold, director of water scarcity solutions at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the project was long overdue.
“This is recycled water that should have been introduced into the city’s system 20 years ago, but water policy prevented that,” Gold said. “It’s great that it’s finally happening and that it’s done so quickly.”
As city leaders invest in this facility, they also plan an even larger effort to turn wastewater into purified drinking water. Through a project called Pure Water Los Angeles, we will treat recycled water from the city’s largest wastewater treatment facility, the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant, and use that water at a rate of 230 million gallons per day to generate approximately We plan to supply one-third. Drinking water supply.
UCLA researchers recently analyzed plans for the project, formerly known as Operation Next, and found that the project would significantly strengthen the region’s water resiliency and dramatically reduce the risk of water scarcity. It was discovered that this could have long-term economic benefits.
Researchers at UCLA’s Luskin Innovation Center considered nearly 100,000 potential scenarios, including shortages caused by drought or a major earthquake, where an aqueduct could burst, cutting off outside supplies. did. In a DWP-funded report released this week, they found that bringing Pure Water LA online would significantly improve the resilience of the city’s drinking water supply under all scenarios.
“Our estimate is that no matter how you slice it, the benefits significantly outweigh the costs,” said Gregory Pearce, director of research at the Luskin Center.
In recent years, Los Angeles has imported nearly 90% of its water, drawing its supply from the Eastern Sierra Mountains, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, and the Colorado River.
“Climate uncertainty will be the biggest driver of water scarcity in the city, so the city needs to adapt by developing more local and reliable sources,” Pearce said. “Even if the initial cost is high, it is worth the investment.”
Water passing through one of the septic tanks at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey in 2021.
(Jason Almond/Los Angeles Times)
Pricing for Pure Water LA has not yet been determined. In recent years, various initial estimates have ranged from $6 billion to $20 billion.
DWP is currently preparing a plan outlining options for the project. City officials said this will help move Los Angeles toward its goal of recycling 100% of the city’s wastewater by 2035.
Much of the purified water will be used to replenish groundwater basins, but DWP is also considering introducing “direct potable reuse,” where purified water is delivered directly to customers or mixed with other supplies. I plan to.
Last year, the California Water Resources Control Board adopted nation-leading regulations that allow water utilities to begin developing facilities that deliver highly treated recycled water directly into the drinking water supply. Gonzalez said DWP will soon open a small demonstration facility at the department’s complex near Griffith Park to develop treatment technologies and monitoring methods that ensure the protection of public health.
The city begins development of the nation’s largest water recycling project, but many questions remain unanswered, including where the treatment facility will be located, how the water distribution system will be designed and how long construction will take. It has not been done. said Mr. Gold.
“There is still no clear direction and implementation plan for Pure Water LA,” he said.
Another key issue, Gold said, is that the city’s project at the Hyperion plant in Playa del Rey is in conflict with plans for another Metropolitan Water District recycling facility called Pure Water Southern California in Carson. He said it depends on how it fits. When fully completed, the project will cost $8 billion and produce 150 million gallons of water each day, according to MWD’s latest estimates.
“My concern is that we’re running out of time to make those decisions so that we don’t end up with completely separate systems,” Gold said. “Because integrating our systems is really important, not just for Los Angeles, but for the region.”
He said MWD’s project is currently at least five years ahead of the city’s project, and it’s important that L.A. officials make a decision quickly.
“There are still too many questions regarding water supply, given the urgency of making LA a more climate-resilient city,” he says.
Some are raising further questions about the city’s approach.
Melanie Winter, who heads a nonprofit organization called The River Project and advocates for nature-based change in the Los Angeles River Basin, is pleased the city is completing the San Fernando Valley water recycling project, but she is not happy with the city’s completion of the San Fernando Valley water recycling project. He said the city should take a similar approach. Let’s focus more on managing rainwater better. She has advocated for removing concrete and pavement in parts of the watershed to naturally capture rainwater and recharge groundwater.
“The majority of groundwater recharge has to come from managing stormwater, removing impermeable surfaces and allowing rainwater to infiltrate,” Winter said. “We have to have rainwater as a bigger part of that equation.”
For future water recycling projects, Winter said Los Angeles plans to develop a variety of smaller facilities to ensure redundancy, rather than relying on large, centralized systems that he argues would make them vulnerable to failures such as earthquakes. He said he thinks this is something that should be focused on. danger. She noted that the Hyperion plant’s existing infrastructure has a history of failures and sewage spills.
“We need to think more decentralized than the centralized systems currently envisioned and proposed,” Winter said. “If you have a decentralized network, it’s more stable. And they’re not considering that the way they should.”
