| Work Detail |
Metropolitan Water District’s board of directors has approved up to $285.6m of incentives to San Diego’s Pure Water recycling project, which is worth $1.4bn, over the next 25 years.
The water recycling project will feature advanced treatment processes to purify wastewater in order to supply drinking water to the city’s residents.
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California supplies water to 26 member agencies, which together serve 19 million people in six counties.
Metropolitan will provide funding from its Local Resources Program.
The water board has invested $665m in 111 local recycling and groundwater clean-up projects since 1982.
Metropolitan general manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said: “Regardless of the location of each of these projects, they all help ensure Southern California as a region has a reliable water supply.
“Recycling projects like Pure Water San Diego help reduce demand on imported water, decrease the burden on our infrastructure, reduce system costs and free up capacity on Metropolitan’s conveyance system. That is immensely valuable to the entire region.”
Metropolitan chairwoman Gloria Gray said: “Each of our member agencies has different opportunities to develop local water supplies. Our Local Resources Program recognizes these unique opportunities while valuing the role they collectively play for the region.”
The Pure Water project involves treatment of wastewater from San Diego’s North City Water Reclamation Plant. It will feature advanced processes such as ozone, biological activated carbon filters, reverse osmosis, ultraviolet disinfection, microfiltration, and advanced oxidation.
The treated water would help to fill the Miramar Reservoir in San Diego.
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said: “Increasing water supply and reliability is essential for San Diego’s continued growth, and this significant investment by the Metropolitan Water District into the Pure Water project is going to help San Diego ratepayers for years to come.
“Together with MWD staff and Chairwoman Gloria Gray, we are working together as a team to get big water projects done that benefit San Diego and all of Southern California.”
Phase I of the project is expected to annually generate 33,600 acre-feet of water.
The LRP incentive will offer up to $340 per acre-foot of water produced over the next 25 years. This will lead to a total of up to $285.6m over the project’s lifetime.
The project has a total capacity of 83,000 acre-feet. |
