OC Water District Breaks Ground on Expanded Water Purification Facility
Once completed, the expanded facility will process an extra 30 million gallons of water each day, and serve 250,000 additional residents.
Stephanie Weldy
Fountain Valley Patch
01/17/2012
The Orange County Water District in Fountain Valley broke ground Tuesday afternoon on a water purification system expansion that will bring clean water to an additional 250,000 county residents every year.
The groundwater replenishment system is the largest water purification facility of its kind. The expansion of the facility will include 31,000 acre-feet per year of new water supplies and will add 30 million gallons per day of replenished water to the 70 million gallons per day that is already replenished by the current system. According to OCWD board member and Chairman Roger Yoh, the current system supplies enough water for 600,000 Orange County residents each year. The expanded system will supply enough for 850,000 residents.
The replenishment system uses contaminated water that has been used in everyday amenities, including sewers, toilets and washing machines, and treats the water through a three-step process. The process includes micro filtration, reverse osmosis and exposure to ultraviolet light and treats the water to put it in a near-distilled state.
