Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District considers advanced wastewater treatment system
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 20, 2008 at 6:50 amFrom the Inland Daily Bulletin:
From toilet to basin to tap.
That is how one water agency intends to make to the San Gabriel Valley nearly droughtproof. The Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District this month approved a $300,000 consulting contract with MWH, an engineering company, which will review plans for a treatment plant that turns waste water into drinking water and stores it in the San Gabriel Basin. The facility would be similar to an Orange County Water District groundwater replenishment plant that opened in January.
“This would take waste water generated in the San Gabriel Valley and turn it into ultrapurified drinking water,” said Tim Jochem, general manager of the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, based in El Monte.
“This will help us provide a high quality, local water supply to replace our lost imported water,” said Peter Rodriguez, spokesman for the water district.
The plant could cost up to $70 million, but officials said the expense is reasonable considering that a stable water supply for Southern California is becoming more important. The ongoing drought, climate change and the decline in the imported water from Northern California because of environmental restraints has forced water officials in Southern California to urge water conservation and increase attention on developing a local water supply.
“I would support any project that helps secure water for our region,” said Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina.
More on this story from the Inland Daily Bulletin by clicking here.
Inland golf courses face challenges of water conservation
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 9, 2008 at 6:48 amFrom Riverside’s Press-Enterprise:
It might not be equivalent to screaming “fire” in a crowded theater, but mention “drought” and you’ll surely give nightmares to many golf course operators.
On the heels of the state’s driest spring in 88 years, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the magic word in May, declaring the first drought in California since 1991 and hoping the proclamation would shake his constituents into taking water conservation seriously.
John Martinez, director of golf operations at The SCGA Golf Course in Murrieta, is among those paying attention. “The water situation is extremely serious,” Martinez said by phone. “And I don’t think most people really realize how serious it is.”
Golfers in Northern California’s Alameda and Contra Costa counties probably do. Courses in those communities faced 30-percent cuts in water usage when rationing went into effect in May.
No cutbacks have been mandated in Southern California, but that doesn’t mean golf course operators such as Martinez aren’t concerned about the state’s decreasing water supply, what it could mean for their facilities and what they can do to make due if the situation deteriorates. The more conscious, forward-thinking courses are going the reclaimed water route, or have done so already.
Eight years ago the SCGA course spent $1.6 million to implement an irrigation system that uses exclusively recycled water, instead of potable groundwater. Martinez said the savings have paid off about 60 percent of the cost.
“Not too bad for a system designed to last 25 years,” Martinez said. “It really makes sense for any golf course sitting on the sidelines thinking about it to do it now. In order for them to survive, they need to do whatever it takes to get reclaimed water.”
Read more on this story from Riverside’s Press-Enterprise by clicking here.
Reclaiming our water: Editorial praises Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District’s plan to use recycled water for irrigation
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 8, 2008 at 8:10 amFrom the Pasadena Star News, this editorial:
It’s going to come as a shock to many San Gabriel Valley and Whittier-area folks the day water rationing is instituted. But the prolonged drought, higher temperatures due to global warming and a judge’s decision to divert less water from Northern California are making that day - though still in the future - inevitable.
While conservation is the best option, it only goes so far. Yes, residents should use less water inside the home, but irrigation outside the home (if farming is removed from the equation) is where most of the urban water goes and most of the waste occurs.
That’s why businesses, government, schools as well as private residents must cut back on irrigation of all those roadway medians, freeway off- and on-ramps, school ball fields, parklands, grounds, cemeteries and private lawns if we are going to reduce water use - big picture.
Institutional uses are a great place to point the divining rod of water conservation. And most importantly, using less water in irrigation should become a permanent best practice, not a one-time cutback that results in a gold star one year and a return to water-wasting practices the next.
The editorial cites the recent announcement on the breaking ground on the third phase of the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District’s project to use recycled water for landscape irrigation at parks and schools. When the four-phase project is completed, it will save 5 billion gallons of drinking water per year. The editorial refers to the water as ‘new water’, saying:
We can foresee using “new water” to battle forest fires and to manufacture products.
Institutionalizing the use of “new water” takes time, money and investment. We’re glad to see our region is doing just that. This will ease the sting of prolonged droughts that result in a reduction of potable water deliveries. It also costs less to use recycled water that essentially gets piped to the ocean otherwise.
While residents can do more to use less, they can’t be expected to do it alone. Industry and government can help by investing in recycled water systems for irrigation.
Read the full text of this editorial from the Pasadena Star News by clicking here.
Water recycling project advances: Pipeline to irrigate parks, private lawns
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 7, 2008 at 7:15 amFrom the Whittier Daily News:
Thousands of acres of parks and golf courses across the San Gabriel Valley rely on expensive and precious drinking water for irrigation.
But officials at the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, headquartered in El Monte, are trying to change that by installing pipelines that will bring recycled water to public and private lawns. “This project is significant at several levels,” said Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-El Monte. “It will save energy, it will free up drinking water so we don’t have to import it, and … it will build on the public’s acceptance of recycled water.”
The third phase of a nearly $45million recycled water project that will bring water from bathrooms to local parks, cemeteries, schools and golf courses broke ground last month in Whittier Narrows. In total, there are four phases that extend from Whittier to Walnut, and rely on a combination of agencies for funding and planning, such as the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Rowland Water District and the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts.
Upper San Gabriel water district, which has taken the lead on these projects, buys imported water and sells it to five cities and four water agencies throughout the San Gabriel Valley. The $9 million third phase will bring a mile-long pipeline from South El Monte through Rosemead, and will deliver recycled water to Norman’s Nursery, four schools, Whittier Narrows Golf Course and to Zapopan Park.
“These kinds of projects will save our water supply,” said Upper San Gabriel water board President Leon Garcia. “We don’t want to use our (drinking) water to irrigate.”
Read the full text of this article from the Whittier Daily News by clicking here.
DWP saves over 2 billion gallons of water through water recycling; expanding purple pipe to Valley Generating Station saves enough water for 14,400 households
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 24, 2008 at 5:53 amFrom the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, this press release:
Los Angeles officials turned on the spigot today to begin supplying recycled water to the Valley Generating Station to use in its cooling process. By connecting the Valley power plant to the City’s “purple pipe” network, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will save about 684 million gallons of purified and treated water per year–enough drinking water for up to 4,200 households,
In addition, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) also announced that recycled water is now being supplied to Balbao and Encino Golf Courses for landscape irrigation. Altogether, the City’s total use of recycled water is up to 7,200 acre-feet per year for irrigation and industrial uses, as a barrier to seawater intrusion, and for environmental beneficial uses. This saves over 2 billion gallons of treated and purified drinking water for up to14,400 households per year.
“LA’s future depends on our willingness to adopt an ethic of sustainability. That is why we have committed ourselves to recycling and conserving enough water to meet all new demand. And, today, we are taking another step forward to keep our pipes running for years to come,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
In May, the Mayor, City and LADWP officials unveiled the City of Los Angeles Water Supply Action Plan, “Securing L.A.’s Water Supply,” which pledged to meet all new demand for water - about 100,000 acre-feet per year (AFY) by 2030 - through water conservation and recycling rather than importing any additional new water.
“California is facing a drought, and the millions of gallons of water saved by this program will ensure we have a steady water supply in the hot summer months.,” said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who sits on the Council Energy & Environment Committee. “With the effects of global warming obvious to everyone, it is clear that now more than ever we must implement our sustainable, Citywide water conservation plan to cope with rising temperatures and a shrinking water supply.”
“This is an excellent example of how the City must practice good consciousness and conservation, especially with the threat of dwindling water supplies,” said Councilmember Tony Cardenas, whose 6th District includes the Valley Generating Station.
LADWP CEO & General Manager David Nahai said the need to develop sustainable water resources is critical given the drought conditions declared throughout California, uncertain future snow and rainfall levels, and environmental commitments that limit availability of importing water from traditional sources in Northern California and the Eastern Sierra and Owens Valley.
“We are aggressively working to expand recycled water for irrigation, industrial and other nonpotable uses,” Nahai said. “Today we are increasing recycled water in the City by 60% with the advent of Valley Generating Station, Balboa and Encino Golf Courses coming online.” Last year, LADWP connected Woodley Golf Course to recycled water for irrigation.
Nick Patsaouras, president of the LADWP Board of Commissioners, said: “This project allows the City to save millions of gallons of drinking water for the people of Los Angeles. We are re-using this water in a safe, reliable, economically feasible and environmentally sensitive way to augment the City’s water supply.”
Recycled water is wastewater treated to a high degree to meet regulatory water quality standards through removal of solids, filtration and disinfection. All recycled water in Los Angeles undergoes treatment and disinfection to the tertiary level, and meets stringent water quality standards set by the State Department of Public Health.
Valley Generating Station and the golf courses in the Sepulveda Basin are using recycled water that has been treated at the Donald C. Tillman Reclamation Plant. The Tillman Plant treats wastewater to the tertiary level and pipes it to the Balboa Pump Station built on site. The treated water travels through 10.2 miles of purple pipes (the pipes are painted purple to differentiate them from pipes that carry potable water) to the seven-million gallon Hansen Tank, a $12 million holding tank completed in December 2007.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was established more than 100 years ago to provide a reliable and safe water and electric supply to the City of Los Angeles residents and businesses. The LADWP serves approximately 1.4 million electric customers and 680,000 water service customers. For more information, log on to http://www.ladwp.com/.
Study finds that prions are not degraded by conventional sewage treatment processes
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 23, 2008 at 8:10 pmThanks to Ray Walker, frequent commentor on Aquafornia, for sending me the link to this article. Ray has pointed out frequently that prions may likely be present after wastewater treatment, which poses a serious question to recycled water that ends up in a municipal drinking water supply. From Science Daily:
Scientists in Wisconsin are reporting that typical wastewater treatment processes do not degrade prions.
Prions, rogue proteins that cause incurable brain infections such as Mad Cow disease and its human equivalent, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, are difficult to inactivate, resisting extreme heat, chemical disinfectants, and irradiation. Until now, scientists did not know whether prions entering sewers and septic tanks from slaughterhouses, meatpacking facilities, or private game dressing, could survive and pass through conventional sewage treatment plants.
Joel Pedersen and colleagues used laboratory experiments with simulated wastewater treatment to show that prions can be recovered from wastewater sludge after 20 days, remaining in the “biosolids,” a byproduct of sewage treatment sometimes used to fertilize farm fields.
Read the full text of this story from Science Daily by clicking here.
Thanks to Aquafornia reader Greg for putting the link to the study in the comments section of this post!
L.A. may flush old fears of toilet to tap, but Angelenos slow to swallow purified sewage
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 22, 2008 at 9:51 pmFrom the Los Angeles Daily News:
Eight years after Los Angeles leaders killed a multimillion-dollar water-recycling project amid vitriolic debate over politics and safety, the dubiously dubbed “toilet to tap” plan is back.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has made recycled water the centerpiece of his 20-year water plan, and now the one-time critic has become the leading proponent for purifying sewage and wastewater and returning it to the drinking-water supply. But as Villaraigosa and the Department of Water and Power prepare to pitch the next generation of recycled water, the question remains whether political, scientific - and perhaps more importantly, public - opinions have changed over the last eight years.
DWP General Manager H. David Nahai believes they have: The science on recycled water is better, the area’s water shortage is more severe, the public is more environmentally aware, and the DWP now is more savvy about public relations. “We’ve learned the lessons of the past, especially as far as communication goes,” Nahai said. “We’re putting ourselves in a position to roll out this program very publicly so that nobody feels that anything has been hidden or that there is anything to be suspicious or fearful about.”
Observers of politics and water issues agree that the climate is very different in 2008 from what it was years ago, when the proposal drew a passionate - and decidedly negative - outcry.
California is in the middle of a drought, and global warming is expected to lighten the Sierra snowpack that holds much of the state’s water supply. Meanwhile, court decisions have limited how much water can be imported to Southern California, even as the population keeps growing.
“Times have radically changed,” said Steve Erie, professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, and author of “Beyond Chinatown,” which chronicles the history of Southern California’s water supply. Not only do you have the specter of drought, but if the governor declares a water emergency, we’re talking about rationing imposed statewide.
“What was an option 10 years ago is increasingly becoming a necessity. We don’t have the luxury anymore of ignoring the `yuck factor’ of recycled water.”
Read the full text of this extensive article from the Los Angeles Daily News by clicking here.
In a related story also from the Daily News, Angelenos express their concerns:
Most people interviewed recently wrinkled their noses and shook their heads at the mention of mixing purified toilet water into drinking water - even if the process provides safe and tasty water. Many people said they won’t even drink tap water now because they consider it unsafe or of poor quality, so drinking recycled water is out of the question.
“It sounds crazy,” said Arleta resident Glory Loza. “Even the water we have now isn’t safe. Imagine drinking toilet water!” Loza said she drinks bottled water. Like most others walking at Hansen Dam on a recent morning, she had a fresh bottle of brand-name water tucked under her arm.
Similarly, Panorama City resident Mayra Torres isn’t convinced by assurances that the water would be clean. “I wouldn’t drink it. Even though they would clean it, it just doesn’t sound safe.”
More on this story from the Los Angeles Daily News by clicking here.
Keeping the water pure is suddenly in demand; small businesses specializing in water treatment processes are prospering
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 19, 2008 at 6:57 amFrom the New York Times:
WATER has always been an issue in California. But drought conditions, not to mention worries about continued supplies of clean water, are turning water into a growth industry in California and elsewhere.
Big companies like General Electric, Siemens and Veolia Environnement of France have ambitious plans to bring water to developing countries and clean water everywhere. But many small companies are finding niches and doing well these days, too.
Puretec Industrial Water, of Oxnard, Calif., for example, “grew 34 percent last year,” said Jim Harris, the owner and president. The company, with 90 employees, leaped to $18 million in revenue from $13.5 million in 2006. “We have 4,000 customers,” said Mr. Harris, “but we have grown 15 percent or more every year since I started.”
Besides the demand for high-quality industrial water, treatment for recycling water is also a growth industry:
Business is also growing because municipalities are looking to recycle water to assure residents and businesses of having enough water at desired levels of purity. Los Angeles is planning a long-term project to recycle wastewater. Orange County will officially inaugurate a major recycling project next week.
Such projects increase demand for water treatment technologies, like those supplied by another California business, Systematix Company, a chemical engineering firm in Buena Park. Charles F. Michaud, a chemical engineer, founded Systematix in 1982 to manufacture water filtration materials and to “interpret the complex design parameters of water treatment” so that small companies could keep up with developing technologies and compete with larger firms. “This is a fragmented industry,” he said. “More than 500 companies are in water treatment, and the larger firms only have about 20 percent of the total market.”
Read more from the New York Times by clicking here.
Plumb the freeways!
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 12, 2008 at 6:33 amFrom the San Diego Transcript, this commentary:
On June 4th, our slinky-spined governor proclaimed a state-wide “drought.” Reciting long-known facts such as: decades of rainfall declines in the Colorado River basin; the state of Arizona’s baby-boomers boom requiring Arizona officials to demand their state’s lawful share of the Colorado curtailing California’s supply; and the recent decision by federal Judge Oliver Wanger taking the side of the Delta Smelt fish against 25 million Southern Californians further reducing San Diego’s supply by a whopping third, the governor then ordered his troops to solve this problem.
Or did he?
Instead of ordering the construction of the Sacramento Delta peripheral canal that would solve the Delta-Smelt problem or eliminating the Coastal Commission’s authority to veto salt-water desalinization plants that would increase our fresh-water supplies, he instead abjures the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to: “facilitate,” “work with,” “help,” “coordinate with,” and, oh yes “expedite.” This is all “government-de-guk”: in other words, ultimately it means nothing.
I submit to fellow San Diegans that if we wait around for the DWR to do any of the above, our canteens will be dryer than the billions of dollars worth of agricultural and private- and public-landscape plantings that we will be forced to abandon.
Water-supply problems have been pending for years and each has a solution that so far state and local elected officials have managed to evade. Sadly, elected officials do not act until we the public, as Roger Hedgecock would say, “Hold their feet to the fire.” Well folks, now is the time. Clip this column and send it to your city council member or state senator.
Let’s start with a practical and immediate solution that requires nothing more than action by your state and local elected officials. No change in state law is required, just action.
Read the rest of this article from the San Diego Transcript by clicking here.
Assemblyman Lieu touts West Basin’s innovative water conservation effort
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 11, 2008 at 5:53 amFrom the State of California, this press release:
Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), a member of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, held a press conference today with West Basin Municipal Water District in response to the Governor’s declaration of an “official drought.” The press conference highlighted innovative and efficient water conservation programs being implemented within the water district.
“Water is something that we usually take for granted. When we turn on the faucet, we always expect it to be there, but we need to remember that it is not an endless resource,” warned Assemblymember Lieu. “In order to avert forced water rationing, we need to put the same effort into water conservation as we did during the energy crisis when we had to conserve electricity to avoid rolling black outs.”
Last week, Governor Schwarzenegger officially declared the State of California to be in a drought for the first time since 1991. California is experiencing the driest spring season in the past 88 years and with state reservoirs being precariously low, the scene is set for a dangerous summer and wildfire season. With warnings of forced water rationing and emergency transfers of water supplies, it is critical that innovative and efficient water conservation programs are pursued state-wide.
West Basin Municipal Water District runs one of the nation’s top centers for water treatment technologies, the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility. The facility is the largest of its kind in the nation and was recognized in 2002 by the National Water Resources Institute as one of six best recycling facilities in the United States. At the facility, West Basin produces five types of recycled water, ranging in quality and purity. The water they produce is used for a variety of purposes, including park irrigation, purified water for drinking and water for local businesses.
“With the Governor’s recent declaration of a statewide drought, all the cities in the 53rd Assembly District should join us and their retailers in our collective effort to drought proof the region,” said Donald L. Dear, Board President, West Basin Municipal Water District. “It is time to get serious about water in Southern California. With Assemblymember Lieu’s leadership, we can protect our water future.”
“State water levels are dangerously low and as we head into a dry summer, the possibilities of wildfires are becoming more serious,” stated Assemblymember Lieu. “We need to ensure that water districts throughout the state are conserving as much as they can and using their resources wisely, so that we have the water necessary to get through the summer.”
Turning Los Angeles wastewater to tap water; Politics killed a 1990s plan to recycle, but drought, technology and Orange County’s success offer hope
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 7, 2008 at 7:41 amFrom the Los Angeles Times:
In a conference room atop a downtown Los Angeles tower, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s point man on water conservation was confidently ticking off the protections built into a plan to recycle highly treated sewage effluent into the drinking supply.
But when his staff explained that community meetings on the project might not begin until early next year, H. David Nahai quickly grew uneasy. That’s too slow, too risky, the Department of Water and Power general manager told his team. “Folks on the street who’ll hear about wastewater treatment [may] have some reticence about it. . . . The more this languishes, the more the fires of suspicion are going to get fanned. We need to go out quicker.”
The recent session captured the larger political dynamics of Villaraigosa’s ambitious new effort to wean Los Angeles from its increasingly precarious dependence on distant water supplies. With a statewide drought, a broad spectrum of early political support and new purification technologies, administration officials think they are well positioned to begin a years-long transition to wastewater recycling for household use.
But a long shadow is still being cast by the multimillion-dollar collapse of a similar effort eight years ago, when water recycling was dubbed “toilet to tap” and the issue became mired in a mayoral campaign and the San Fernando Valley secession effort.
Read the full text of this article from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
GE releases white paper on best practices for recycling and reusing water
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 28, 2008 at 5:43 amFrom Business Wire:
GE Water & Process Technologies released today — Addressing Water Scarcity Through Recycling and Reuse: A Menu for Policymakers — a white paper outlining the policies and best practices currently being used to increase and implement successful water conservation programs in water scarce regions of the world.
“Policymakers are looking for ways to expand water recycling and reuse initiatives, but until now finding information on how best to do that was tough,” said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO, GE Water & Process Technologies. “By providing a menu of policy tools ranging from less intensive mechanisms, like public outreach programs, to more proactive, regulatory approaches, our paper will help governments, communities and businesses effectively evaluate their options.”
Addressing Water Scarcity Through Recycling and Reuse: A Menu for Policymakers is built around a variety of policies that are being used in different locations of the world, including efforts to:
* Provide more information on and recognition of water recycling and reuse efforts
* Reduce or remove regulatory or cost barriers that prevent more water reuse or recycling
* Provide financial, regulatory or other incentives for water recycling and reuse
* Require more water recycling and reuseExamples of how these policies are being applied in communities around the world are included in the report, which can be downloaded at www.ge.com/water.
Today, GE also announced its own commitment to reduce its own fresh water use by 20% by 2012. The new initiative is one of the world’s most aggressive corporate water target to date and is expected to free up 7.4 million cubic meters (2 billion U.S. gallons) of fresh water a year – enough water to fill over 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. GE expects to implement water reuse technologies and/or process efficiencies at over 100 company facilities to meet the absolute water reduction target. GE is also using the same portfolio of water-saving solutions to help reduce municipal, industrial and agriculture customers’ water footprints.
“Green technology offers a brighter future for our Blue Planet,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles. “Ecomagination and others are growing green collar jobs and seizing on this changing climate of opportunity for water sustainability. EPA commends citizens, companies, and communities who are reducing water waste and increasing recycling because efficiency and reuse are the true blue wave of the future.”
For more information on GE’s water commitment please visit www.ge.com/ecomagination.
ABOUT GE WATER & PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES
A world leader in membrane and filtration, diagnostic tools, specialty chemicals, mobile water, service, and financing, GE Water and Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), offers the broadest portfolio of global expertise and local capabilities. We invest in forward looking water and process technologies, leveraging the best practices of GE’s ecomagination, to help customers balance environmental and economic goals. Our innovative team develops unique partnerships and delivers reliable, long-term solutions for communities, governments and industry that maximize water and energy resources. www.ge.com/water.
GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work — a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world’s toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing and media content, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.ge.com.
Mayor Villaraigosa calls for new wave of Los Angeles water policy
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 26, 2008 at 6:14 amFrom the California Progress Report:
Last week Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made an exceptionally bold move by declaring that Los Angeles would accommodate all new water demands through intense water conservation and water recycling. “Securing LA’s Water Supply,” the Mayor’s plan, reflects a changing paradigm in California water policy.
Historically, Los Angeles has sought out new sources of imported water to meet growth demands. The city is famous for fighting legal and public battles to win water from the Owens River, tributaries to Mono Lake, the Colorado River and northern California’s Bay Delta Estuary. Yet, these sources are becoming increasingly unreliable as climate change, increased competition for water, and environmental needs all limit the water available to the city.
Rather than fight another water war, the Mayor’s plan targets the enormous untapped potential of water use efficiency and recycled water. The California Department of Water Resources estimates that these two options alone could produce over 4 million acre feet of “new” water - more than enough to meet the needs of 12 million new residents expected in California through 2030. By tapping into these sources, L.A. will also secure highly reliable local water resources that will not be impacted by declining snowpack or other side effects of climate change.
Read the rest of this story from the California Progress Report by clicking here.
Mayor Villiaragosa unveils his water strategy plan; bloggers react
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 16, 2008 at 5:54 amFrom the Department of Water and Power, this press release:
Unveiling a plan to ensure water continues to flow in Los Angeles despite a worsening outlook, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today laid out a long-term strategy for the City to meet an expected growth in water demand over the next 20 years with aggressive conservation and an unprecedented water recycling program. “LA’s future depends on our willingness to adopt an ethic of sustainability. If we don’t commit ourselves to conserving and recycling water, we will tap ourselves out,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “This plan makes a basic promise to our kids: We are going to recycle and conserve enough water to meet 100% of new demand.”
By 2030, the population of Los Angeles is expected to jump by 500,000 people, according to the Southern California Association of Governments, pushing up water demand in the City by 100,000 acre-feet per year, or 15 percent.
The plan calls for the first real enforcement of City water restrictions since the early 1990s, dishing penalties to residents who water lawns during prohibited hours and restaurants that serve water to customers who have not requested it. On the technology side, the plan - “Securing LA’s Water Supply” - shifts the City’s focus from promoting efficient indoor plumbing to the outdoors, where Angeleno families use 30-40 percent of their water. Laying out a series of incentives for businesses and families to reduce water use, the plan introduces a new program to distribute free “smart sprinklers” to every home in Los Angeles.
Together, these steps to conserve water will balance out half of the expected 15 percent jump in water demand by 2030. The remaining 50 percent of water demand will be met by the City’s first wide-scale plan for water recycling.
Raising the amount of water it purifies for recycling by six-fold by 2019, LADWP will expand its existing “purple pipe” system (distributing water for irrigation and industrial uses) and will flesh out a “groundwater replenishment” water-recycling program.
“I salute Mayor Villaraigosa for his bold leadership in announcing the ‘Securing L.A.’s Water Supply,’” said David Nahai, LADWP CEO and General Manager. “This is a bold and visionary strategy for securing L.A.’s water supply today and in the future by developing a locally sustainable water supply.”
“We are already seeing the effects of global warming, and as a City we need a comprehensive plan to address rising temperatures and a shrinking water supply,” said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel. “I applaud the Mayor for proposing this bold strategy to ensure our children and grandchildren have an ample water supply. It’s incumbent upon all Angelenos to do their part or we will face severe long-term consequences.”
Read the full text of the press release from DWP by clicking here. Coverage from the New York Times by clicking here.
Blogger Ron Kaye, former editor of the LA Daily News, weighs in on his blog, Ron Kaye LA:
“L.A.’s future depends on our willingness to adopt an ethic of sustainability. If we don’t commit ourselves to conserving and recycling water, we will tap ourselves out,” Villaraigosa told the Daily News. “This plan makes a basic promise to our kids. We are going to recycle and conserve enough water to meet 100 percent of new demand.”
We’re going to drink toilet water for the kids’ sake? Aw. c’mon Antonio.
We’re going to drink water so some people can get rich. We’re going to drink toilet water because we put growth at any cost ahead of the quality of life. We’re going to drink toilet water because we don’t have the imagination or will to embrace regional water policies and conservation efforts
It’s like everything we do.
We don’t solve the traffic congestion problem by tougher regulations on trucks in peak hours, we put billions into the ground for subways that don’t take us where we want to go. We strip neighborhoods of a say on development so we can put up massive apartment complexes that encourage crime and poverty. We fix our schools buildings but not what goes on in the classroom. We build monuments to billionaires’ egos, not community centers for ordinary people to enjoy.
David over at Westchester Parents agrees, saying:
Today’s water conservation efforts have nothing to do with getting through a tough period of drought. It has everything to do with the current administrations efforts to build a staggering number of housing units and fill the city treasury.
Read the full text of Ron Kaye’s blog by clicking here, full text of Westchester Parents blog by clicking here.
L.A. prepares massive water-conservation plan, to include water restrictions and a recycled water program
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 15, 2008 at 6:48 amFrom the Los Angeles Times:
With vital and often-distant water sources shrinking, Los Angeles officials today will revive a controversial proposal to recycle wastewater as part of a plan to curb usage and move the city toward greater water independence.
The aggressive, multiyear proposal could do much to catch the city up to other Southern California communities that have launched advanced recycling programs.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s effort could cost up to $2 billion and affect a wide range of daily activities. For example, residents would be urged to change their clothes’ washers, and new restrictions would be placed on how and when they could water lawns and clean cars.
Financial incentives and building code changes would be used to incorporate high-tech conservation equipment in homes and businesses. Builders would be pushed to install waterless urinals, weather-sensitive sprinkler systems and porous parking lot paving that allows rain to percolate into groundwater supplies.
Just to meet a 15% increase in demand by 2030, officials say 32 billion gallons a year will have to be saved or recaptured — enough to cover the San Fernando Valley with a foot of water.
Prohibitions during the 1990s drought — banning residents from washing driveways and sidewalks, letting sprinklers flood into gutters and watering grass in midday — would be enforced again, with additional restrictions. One part of the proposal would limit lawn watering to certain days of the week.
“This is a radical departure for the city of Los Angeles,” said Department of Water and Power General Manager David Nahai. “I think overall this plan is going to be a beacon for other cities.”
In fact, cities facing the same challenges, including Long Beach, have already moved to curtail residential and commercial water usage and punish waste. Orange County and other Southern California agencies are also recycling treated sewage water back into the drinking supply.
Los Angeles’ plan — a copy of which was made available to The Times — would invest in projects to capture and store rainfall and clean up a sprawling, contaminated water supply beneath the San Fernando Valley. About $1 billion would be allocated for reclamation, including a politically sensitive plan to use treated wastewater to recharge underground drinking supplies serving the Valley, Los Feliz and the Eastside.
Read the full text of this story from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
The Daily Breeze adds this:
The effort to drought-proof the city and its more than 4 million residents comes as regional leaders try to find ways to deal with dwindling supplies from Northern California, the Sierra and the Colorado River.
“L.A.’s future depends on our willingness to adopt an ethic of sustainability. If we don’t commit ourselves to conserving and recycling water, we will tap ourselves out,” Villaraigosa said. “This plan makes a basic promise to our kids. We are going to recycle and conserve enough water to meet 100percent of new demand.”
To encourage Angelenos to save, the plan recommends ticketing water wasters, offering more financial incentives for efficient appliances and synthetic turf, and installing “smart” sprinklers that turn off when it rains. But the groundwater reclamation is Villaraigosa’s boldest proposal.
Acknowledging the failed recycled water program that was killed by then-mayor James Hahn in 2001, David Nahai had this to say:
DWP General Manager H. David Nahai said recycled water is becoming more common. Orange County has a similar recycled water system, while residents in London, Israel and even downstream from Las Vegas all drink reclaimed water. “We’re going to do this in a completely different way,” Nahai said. “We can’t afford to fail at this. Our plans are very ambitious; we’re talking about a sixfold increase in recycled water.”
Read more coverage from the Daily Breeze by clicking here.
Sewer to spigot: An article on recycled water from the Wall Street Journal
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 15, 2008 at 6:19 amFrom the Wall Street Journal:
A growing number of cities and counties grappling with water shortages are turning to a solution that may be tough for some homeowners to stomach: purifying wastewater so that residents can drink it.
In an effort to replenish its groundwater supply, Los Angeles is slated to announce Thursday a plan that will recycle 4.9 billion gallons of treated wastewater to drinking standards by 2019. In San Diego, the city council voted in favor of a pilot project that would pump recycled sewage water into a drinking-water reservoir, despite a veto from the mayor over the system’s cost. Miami-Dade County, Fla., is planning a system that would pump 23 million gallons a day of purified wastewater into the ground; the water will eventually travel to a supply well and be reclaimed for drinking use.
Water recycling is just one of a number of tactics parched cities — many of which have faced water shortages for years — are using. “Demand is growing, and supply is pretty much staying static,” says Wade Miller, executive director of the WateReuse Association, a nonprofit in Alexandria, Va., that promotes water recycling.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Villiaragosa is coming around to the realities of Southern California’s water situation:
Recurring droughts and growing populations are increasing the allure of recycling. In Los Angeles, groundwater contamination in the San Fernando Valley, where the majority of the city’s groundwater supply is produced, has limited water available for pumping. “If we don’t commit ourselves to conserving and recycling water, we will tap ourselves out,” says Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a statement.
In San Diego, plans to augment reservoirs with recycled water have been met with staunch resistance, but residents there already drink recycled water, whether they realize it or not:
Skeptics may feel squeamish about drinking what used to be toilet water, Mr. Peters says, but San Diego already receives at least some wastewater from other cities that discharge treated sewage water into the Colorado River. “The Colorado River is not filled with Dasani,” Mr. Peters says. “That’s where we get our water from.”
Read the rest of this story from the Wall Street Journal by clicking here.
Recycled water: part of the 21st century solution, says editorial
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 10, 2008 at 6:21 amFrom Inside the Bay Area, this editorial written by Contra Costa County Times staff:
In the past decades most of the strategies for meeting the water needs of a growing economy and population has been met via what experts call the “hard path”. This has involved developing new sources of water by building massive dams, aqueducts, canals and large water treatment plants. The past century has been the era of “build and grow” as far as meeting our water needs are concerned. Undoubtedly the “hard path” has produced enormous benefits such as clean water supplies, irrigation and better health in our state and the nation.
Peter Gleick of the Oakland-based Pacific Research Institute correctly points out that despite building these grand infrastructures, we have not solved our water-related problems and we have been saddled with large scale ecological damage as well as destruction to many of our most scenic locations.
On a worldwide basis, despite billions of dollars in investment, more than 1 billion people lacked access to clean drinking water at the end of the 20th century. In the 21st century we need to think in terms of the “soft path” — one which seeks to improve the productivity of water use and match delivery of water to the needs of the users instead of just seeking new supplies of water, as Nature magazine had pointed out. The “soft path” is the smart path for the new century.
The folks at the Pacific Research Institute summarize the “soft path” as the approach that matches water services to the needs of the user. In addition it considers the ecological and social needs in order to maintain balance between the needs of man and nature in a sustainable way.
One of the strategies in this approach is that different qualities of water are used for different uses. For example, recycled waster water is used in irrigating lawns and golf courses, parks, school grounds and to meet certain industrial needs. It makes no sense to flush our wastewater into rivers, bays and the ocean.
Read more from this editorial from Inside the Bay Area (Contra Costa County Times) by clicking here.
Tucson contemplates using recycled water to boost drinking water supplies
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 9, 2008 at 5:34 amFrom Alternet.org:
Faced with increasing demand for water, Tucson Water Company has recommended that the city eventually use its growing stream of sewage to augment its drinking water. Using a procedure known as the Fountain Valley process, Tucson Water could completely close the gap that will emerge in the coming decades between Tucson’s demand and supply.
“You could offset it all” with treated water, says Tucson Water Director David Modeer in an article by B. Poole in the Tucson Citizen. Treated sewage is much cleaner than what most Tucson citizens are drinking now, called the Clearwater blend of Avra Valley ground water and Colorado River water. The river contains chemically treated wastewater from cities upstream, along with traces of chemicals, hormones and drugs that a system such as Orange County’s would remove.
The Fountain Valley process involves chemical treatment, filtering, more filtering, radiation zapping, and more chemical treatment. It yields water that is nearly distilled, which is then injected into the underground water supply. Orange County has been using the process since January, and its success could serve as a road map to Tucson’s future.
Even Tucson’s most vocal critic of drinking wastewater can’t deny that water put through the Fountain Valley process is clean. “Given enough money, you can treat water to make it pure — more pure than what we’re drinking now, for sure,” said former state legislator John Kromko, who last year spearheaded an effort to ban the use of wastewater in drinking water.
Read the full text of this article from Alternet.org by clicking here.
Singapore quenches the thirst of its population in part with “used water”
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 7, 2008 at 5:43 amFrom BBC News:
Singapore’s water shortages have always posed a major challenge.
“Although we’re on the equator and we’ve got lots of rain, we have nowhere to naturally store water,” explains Khoo Teng Chye, chief executive of the city-state’s Public Utilities Board, or PUB. “We have no groundwater.”
Singapore receives much of it’s water from neighboring Malaysia, but a dispute over costs sent Singapore looking at other ways to quench the thirst of its population:
As a first step, a string of massive reservoirs are being constructed to “harvest as much rain as possible”, so that eventually, some two-thirds of the island’s land surface will be under water, up from about half today, Mr Khoo explains. In addition, desalination plants that turn salt water into drinking water provide 10% of Singapore’s current needs.
But the real breakthrough has come from what Mr Khoo describes as NEWater, produced in water reclamation plants from so-called “used” water. “We use the terminology ‘used water’ rather than sewage to create the understanding that water is a resource,” says Mr Khoo with a grin.
The plants use advanced microfiltration or ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis membranes and ultraviolet technology to produce water that is almost as clean as the distilled variety, according to Mr Khoo. Water for industrial use is transported in a separate pipe from Singapore’s drinking water. The rest is mixed in with rainwater in the reservoirs.
Read the rest of this story from BBC News by clicking here.
Water cleaning technologies present challenges - some work better than others
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 3, 2008 at 7:19 amFrom the San Francisco Examiner, a story that discusses in-depth wastewater treatment, and the use of reverse-osmosis systems to remove trace pharmaceuticals from drinking water supplies:
A large-scale reverse osmosis system is expensive. It costs Orange County about one-eighth of a penny per gallon - or $15 month for the 12,000 gallons used by a typical family of four, a price that doesn’t include overhead charges, such as construction, salaries and maintenance.
Officials at the Greater Cincinnati Water Works say their granular activated carbon filtering system costs 93.6 cents per month for the typical family of four.
Following a parasitic outbreak, the Southern Nevada Water Authority in Las Vegas - which processes up to 900 million gallons daily at two treatment plants - invested millions of dollars in a different advanced system that dissolves ozone gas into water to destroy micro-organisms. Ozonation costs less than one-thousandth of a penny per gallon there - just 9 cents per month for the typical family.
The extra cost of reverse osmosis is nearly impossible to justify because at this point there are no confirmed human health risks posed by pharmaceuticals, according to David Rexing, water quality research and development manager at the Southern Nevada utility. “How do we strap the customer with that cost?” asks Rexing.
Unlike the other treatments, reverse osmosis requires several gallons for every gallon it produces, with the excess an undrinkable brine - and that creates “a bigger environmental issue” than the presence of trace pharmaceuticals, according to Paul Westerhoff, an engineering professor at Arizona State University.
The cheaper ozonation process isn’t designed to remove pharmaceuticals, though it does take care of many compounds. Still, tests at the Nevada authority have shown that tiny concentrations of the tranquilizer meprobamate and an anti-epileptic drug regularly resist the treatment, as on occasion has carbamazepine, another anti-convulsant. At the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which serves 18.5 million people, tests at one of its five plants show that ozonation failed to remove a tranquilizer and an anti-epileptic drug from the finished drinking water, according to an ongoing study.
That district and the Southern Nevada Water Authority both draw from the Colorado River, which, tests show, can contain several hundred parts per trillion of pharmaceuticals including the active ingredients in medicines to treat depression and anxiety. The drugs get there because wastewater plants that drain into the river use basic treatments designed to remove microbes and industrial contaminants, not pharmaceuticals - the same scenario in many rivers nationwide.
Even in Europe, where governments have gone much further in addressing trace levels of pharmaceuticals in the environment, there’s scant political will to invest broadly in advanced wastewater treatment. “The cost isn’t acceptable right now,” Yves Levi, a pharmacist and professor of public health at Paris-South 11 University, said in an interview in French. “No one knows if the risk is considerable or not.”
Read the full text of this article from the San Francisco Examiner by clicking here.