West Basin Municipal Water District
Coastal Los Angeles
Society of
Environmental
Journalists
October 20, 2012
Recycling: It is just the right thing to
do!
Definition of Terms
•POTABLE: Your drinking water
•NONPOTABLE: Irrigation/industrial
•INDIRECT: Purified sewer water into
groundwater or reservoir before pipes
•DIRECT: Purified sewer water in your pipes
Talk Provided by West Basin
5 Customer Commitments
•
•Not ordinary water district
•Started conservation & recycling
over decade ago & Industry leader
in both
•Wholesale imported &
recycled water provider to 1 million
people in 17 cities enough
fill Rose Bowl 850 times
each year
1. Water Reliability
2. Water Quality
3. Sound Financial
and Resource Management
4.Customer Service
5. Environmental Stewardship
Old Water Industry Saying….
Have some
good news and
some bad
news!
Old Water Saying….
Good News….
You are drinking
purified sewer
water!
Old Water Saying….
Bad
News….
We are
going to
run out!
Basic Reuse Facts
All water is reused
Unplanned reuse going on around world & in U.S.
(Colorado River, Mississippi River, etc.)
Purity of recycled water matched to its use
It is not important where the water came from, but what
is done to it to purify or treat it
Water industry can purify any water source, actually
faster & better than Mother Nature
We can easily make water that is too pure to drink
Reusing water is environmentally good and is the right
thing to do
Some CA Reuse Indirect
Potable Success Stories
1962 LA Montebello Groundwater Recharge*
1970’s Orange County WD’s Water Factory
21 *
1990’s West Basin’s facility’s 5 types of
designer waters*
2008 Orange County WD’s new
Groundwater Replenishment
System
*Public probably not aware of reuse
West Basin’s Program
Unique Recycling Program
•
Only public water agency in world that
makes 5 different types “designer” waters
from sewer water
•
Irrigation water
•
Cooling tower water
•
High Pressure Boiler Feed Water
•
Low Pressure Boiler Feed Water
•
Seawater Intrusion Barrier and Groundwater
Replenishment Water
•
Since 1995 have produced 130 billion
gallons, serve 370 sites
West Basin’s System &
Customers
•
120 miles of purple pipe;
current (pink), proposed pipe
system (blue)
•
Mix of customers: Chevron,
bp, Exxon Mobile, Goodyear,
Honda Sports Center, Cal
State Dominquez Hills, Honda
& Toyota office buildings,
power plant, fire stations,
many schools, cities, parks,
golf courses, etc.
Direct Non-potable Recycling Is
Challenging
•
Must build & constantly expand
purification plant & purple
piping system as add new
customers
•
Must meet water quality
requirements to keep many
customers happy
•
Great for new developments,
harder to retrofit old areas
•
Groundwater replenishment
easy compared to providing
other 4 types of water
Future of Water Reuse: More
Indirect Potable Reuse
•Expanding indirect potable reuse
• Purifying sewer water & putting in
aquifers or reservoirs
•Socal leader in this – West Basin
MWD & Orange County WD
•OCWD helped Singapore and
Australia get started
•Based on OC and West Basin
success, indirect potable projects
starting again in LA and SD
Future of Water Reuse:
Moving Toward Direct Potable
•Moving toward direct potable
•Need direct potable to reach large
volume recycling & add drinking water
•Four things we must do:
• Get CA legislation changed to not have
purified sewer water as “waste”
• Need improved online water quality
instruments for “real time” testing
• Develop a store, test and release system
• More public outreach/education
Future of Water Reuse:
Outreach Is the Key
• We have the purification technology, we need
to educate the public
•People do not know about water, where it
comes from, that future supplies are challenged,
why we need for reuse, etc.
•Older projects just came on line with no public
outreach or knowledge (Water Factory 21 in OC,
Montebello LA & others)
•Several newer projects stopped by public in SD,
LA, Dublin, CA, Redwood City, CA, Australia
(Toowoomba, Queensland)
How To Do Outreach Right
• New projects must be open and transparent
•Orange County Water District & West Basin are
successful U.S. outreach models
• Focus on to leaders
• Need face-to-face talks
• Show alternatives, why reuse best
• Have long list of benefits
• Ask for written support
• Proactive, seek out minorities, media &
environmental groups
• Have great water quality data & messages
• Have list of health & medical supporters
• Have people “taste” the water
Need More Outreach Help
• Need national water and water reuse education
campaign
•Need to have capability to bottle recycled drinking
water for education & tasting purposes (Had to use
Singapore’s New Water bottles to sell the Groundwater
Replenishment System in OC)
•More stories about purification plants, need for
indirect, direct potable reuse
•Environmental groups should be more active in
educating public about need for indirect and direct
potable reuse
Some Big Picture Thoughts:
What’s Ahead?
•Conservation, ocean desal & sewer water
reuse are new sources of water, of theses,
currently can only drink ocean desal water
•Direct drinking of sewer water will happen
•Drinking ocean water will increase
•Need more water quality research, i.e.
pharmaceuticals
•Need national push on reuse & national
leadership on water policy
•For now, water industry will continue to be
driving force of more reuse