City of Oceanside team member celebrate the start of operations at the new Pure Oceanside AWTF on January 4th (photo by the City of Oceanside)
With a tweet on January 4th, the City of Oceanside officially announced its brand-new advanced water purification facility was operational. Kicking off 2022 with another large-scale water reuse facility serving California.
The project, called Pure Water Oceanside, is the first AWTF to become operational in the San Diego region and will purify recycled water to create a new, local source of drinking water. The city plans to produce 4.5 million gallons per day, enough to provide about 30% of their water supply. Under a second phase to the plan, the facility will expand to produce up to 6 MGD.
According to the City’s project website…
“A high reliance on imported water leaves the city vulnerable to the threat of climate change, drought, and natural disasters. Diverting water from the Colorado River and Bay Delta affects the ecosystems on which fish and wildlife depend. Pure Water Oceanside and other local programs diversify our water supply and reduce reliance on imported water and create a local and sustainable water source for Oceanside.”
The highly purified water will be injected into the Mission Basin where it will replenish the aquifer. Groundwater is pumped up by the city and filtered again at their Mission Basin Groundwater Purification Facility before being pumped to customers in the city.
Oceanside received one of the US EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation (WIFIA) loans for $69 million dollars to help cover the $158 million dollar cost of building the facility. The low interest rate on the EPA loan (1.2%) is estimated to save the City $24 million over the life of the loan, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.
Shimmick Construction received the contract to build the facility. “Under this contract, Shimmick will construct nitrification-denitrification (NDN) facilities and Plant 2 blower improvements, as well as a new AWPF process building, with a process feed tank, pump station and strainers, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, ultraviolet light advanced oxidation, stabilization, product water pump station and connection to conveyance piping.”
Learn more about Pure Water Oceanside here.
My Profile
