In the face of dire drought, cities and water agencies are now investing heavily in large-scale wastewater recycling facilities.
Years ago, scientists said climate change would bring a Colorado River crisis. Their warnings, which largely went unheeded, are now playing out.
“We have built a very highly centralized system, and it’s sort of a once through system,” said Heather Cooley, director of research at the Pacific Institute. “We often build recycled wastewater treatment facilities at a low point in the watershed … and all the pipes are sort of oriented towards that.”Recurring drought and rising temperatures have already begun to alter the landscape of California and the American Southwest, researchers warn.
The Joint Water Pollution Control Plant in Carson discharges 260 million gallons of treated wastewater per day, treating sewage from as far away as Pomona. It’s an efficient operation powered entirely by biogas that results from treating wastewater and solid waste. Excess energy is sold to the local power grid.
The new wastewater recycling facility planned for Hyperion should begin operation by 2035, Los Angeles city officials say. Currently, Hyperion only treats wastewater to the level necessary to release into Santa Monica Bay. The advanced water purification facility, however, will produce water clean enough to drink and process up to 230 million gallons of water a day.
Next, bundles of straw-like membranes filter the water through holes smaller than 1/100 of a grain of sand. Reverse osmosis then removes more than 99% of all impurities such as bacteria, pharmaceuticals and salts.
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