Show From r sewage flows drinking water S r I I II i Ii I I I I II II r I II I J JI ri ris rit I I II Ij t j I II II I s I I I II II I I I I II I e rn l 1 I II II I I IC C I II I i I Ii r Los Angeles Times photo by Carlos Chavez I The Orange County Water Vater District headquarters in Fountain Valley Calif can transform 70 million gallons of treated sewage into drinking water every day t Dan Dan- Weikel Los Angeles Times r 6 61 G. h ft fc As a hedge against water wate shortages and population growth Orange County Calif has begun operating the worlds world's largest most mos modern modem reclamation plant plan a facility that can turn 7 70 million gallons of treated sewage into drinking water everyday every day j The new purification system i at the Orange County Water District headquarters cost about million and comprises a labyrinth of pipes filters holding tanks and pumps f across 20 acres Almost four years after construction began the facility is now purifying effluent from neighboring a-neighboring a sewage treatment plant the Orange County t Sanitation District a partner in the venture The finished product will willbe willbe be injected into the county's t vast groundwater basin to combat saltwater intrusion f and supplement drinking water supplies for 23 million people in coastal I central and northern Orange County But before that can bedone be done state health officials must certify that the thet ther t r reclaimed water meets I drinking water standards Officials expect the approval to be granted before opening ceremonies i Jan 25 I Our sources from the I San Sacramento-San Joaquin Joaqui Delta and the Colorado River are becoming becoming unavailable said Michael Micha R. R Markus general manager manage of the water district This Thi will help proof drought the region and give us a locally controlled source c of water Last month for example a federal judge ordered a 30 percent reduction in freshwater freshwater fresh fresl water pumped from the thi San Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect the tin tiny delta smelt a threatened sp species cies The region which is facing myriad environmental problems is the hub of California's California water system If the reclamation plants plant's full potential is realized officials say up to million gallons a day could be added to the county's fresh lessening the regions region's dependence on outside sources Basically the facility takes treated sewage which would have been discharged into the sea and runs it through an advanced filtration system Officials say the final product is as clean as distilled water and so pure that lime has to be added to it to keep it from leaching minerals out of concrete pipes thus weakening them The effluent is first pumped into the reclamation plant from the sanitation districts district's sewage treatment facility next door The brackish water which smells of deodorizer flows into 26 holding basins equipped with million micro-filters micro thin straws of porous material with holes no bigger than three- three hundredths the thickness of ofa a human hair From there the water is forced under high pressure through a series of thin plastic membranes housed in rows of white cylinders Next it is dosed with hydrogen peroxide and bombarded with ultraviolet light to neutralize any remaining contaminants At this point the water is free of bacteria viruses carcinogens hormones chemicals toxic heavy metals fertilizers pesticides and dissolved Pharmaceuticals Though it is good enough to drink the scrubbing isn't finished Once the state approves up to 70 million gallons of treated water a aday aday aday day will be pumped into the county's giant underground aquifer It will be cleansed further as it percolates through the earth to depths of up to 1000 feet This is as advanced a reclamation system as you are going to get right now said Krista Clark director of regulatory affairs for the Association of California Water Agencies a nonprofit organization that represents government authorities At an foot acre-foot the recycled water is slightly more expensive than supplies brought in from Northern California But water district officials predict that the cost of the treated water will become more competitive as the price of imported water rises rIses Sanitation and water district officials hope the new plant will become a amodel amodel amodel model for governments governments- trying to t cope with water shortages drought and the increasing demands of growing populations Projects similar to Orange County's are under study in Texas Florida Australia Singapore and elsewhere in California More than a decade ago Los Angeles built a small reclamation system but the million 55 plant was closed in 2000 because of the publics public's distaste over the so-called so toilet-to-tap toilet process In Orange County water reclamation has not faced much nuch opposition thanks to public awareness and the water districts district's extensive marketing campaign plant tours ours neighborhood pizza public meetings to o explain the process The The outreach effort has resulted in endorsements indorsements from scores of tf elected officials as aswell aswell well veil as civic community and nd environmental organizations |