Orange County expands underground water program to ease effects of draught
Officials plan to expand Orange County's groundwater replenishment system in hopes it will continue to stave off the effects of a historic drought for a majority of the region's residents.
This means another 300,000 residents, on top of the 2.5 million already accessing it, will be getting treated wastewater, which many say is a cheaper alternative to imported water and a reason why the region is not facing severe water restrictions.
The process begins with bubbling wastewater that is purified through a three-step process at the Groundwater Replenishment System plant in Fountain Valley.
"The first step is that the Orange County Sanitation District treats it to a certain level and then we take it over and it comes across our property line and we have the microfiltration," said Orange County Water District president Steve Sheldon. "We have reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light. Those all combined take it to a distilled water quality."
The water is then piped to natural water basins in Anaheim near the 91 freeway where it is cleaned further as it percolates into the ground. The water is then distributed to people in central and northern Orange County.
"This is the largest plant of its kind in the world," said Sheldon. "We have a unique set of circumstances with the sanitation district literally being next door to us. Other areas might have it 20 or 50 miles away, there's a conveyance problem. And we also have a groundwater basin. Other areas of the state don't have a groundwater basin."
The groundwater replenishment system will be expanded to convert nearly every drop of wastewater from the sanitation distinct to drinking water and is set to finish at the beginning of 2023.
