Reuse demonstration plant, United States

Project type Reuse
Area served N/A (Demonstration plant)
Population served N/A (Demonstration plant)
Status Complete (2014)

California has suffered severe and devastating drought conditions in recent years. To combat periods of severe drought, there has been an effort to implement water conservation measures and consider innovative reuse solutions across the state of California.

To diversify its water supply, while also reducing its dependence on imported water, Padre Dam Municipal Water District embarked on an advanced water treatment plant project to explore a new source of water in Santee, California.

The new facility was constructed to treat secondary effluent from a wastewater treatment plant in the District. The treated water was used for demonstration and testing purposes, to ensure it exceeded the stringent California Public Health Department’s draft regulations, allowing the facility to provide water to residents.

In the future, the District hopes to be able to expand the facility, to construct a full-scale plant to provide up to 64 MLD (14-17 MGD US) of treated water with indirect potable reuse potential.

With the necessary approvals to proceed, treated water would be pumped to augment surface water levels. It would then be withdrawn, treated again, and then distributed as drinking water to customers.

The Advanced Water Purification Demonstration Project was funded through a three million dollar ‘Proposition 50’ grant from the Department of Water Resources.

With our global Centre of Excellence for Desalination and Membrane Treatment in California, it has been a pleasure to support this progressive local demonstration project, which has the potential to reduce Padre Dam’s dependence on imported water from the Colorado River hundreds of miles away.

Richard White, Senior Vice President, Biwater Inc., United States

Works:

Key project visual

Key project visuals

Hard hats and spades ready for the ground-breaking event

Padre Dam ground-breaking event

Delivery of pre-fabricated membrane trains

Finished demonstration facility with ultrafiltration trains visible

Testing the water generated from the new facility

The completed demonstration facility

Demonstration facility plant tour

Technical Summary:

Membrane treatment capacity:

378 m³/day
0.378 MLD
100,000 US gallons per day

Overview and considerations:

Advanced water purification technologies were utilised in the construction and installation of this indirect potable reuse facility
The advanced treatment processes included in the design are: Chlorine disinfection; coagulation; ultrafiltration; high recovery reverse osmosis; advanced oxidation
To deliver these advanced treatment processes on a fast-track basis, the following system elements were required on-site for installation and commissioning: Field pumps; chlorine contactor; chemical dosing systems; automatic strainers; ultrafiltration system; reverse osmosis system; reverse osmosis concentrator system for 92.5+% recovery; advanced oxidation process system (using ultraviolet light and chemical oxidation); programmable logic controller, field instrumentation and electrical panels; clean-in-place system
Biwater provided a complete turnkey design and supplied and commissioned all process, mechanical, electrical and control components for the plant
Biwater was chosen for its ability to supply a fully integrated system on a fast-track delivery, supporting Padre Dam’s efforts to initiate proof of concept and testing activities as soon as possible

Testing and evaluating the potential for a full-scale advanced water treatment facility that would help drought-proof a district

Works:

Technical Summary:

Membrane treatment capacity:

Overview and considerations: