Public television viewers throughout the state will find out what it takes to deliver safe and reliable water when the latest “California’s Water” segment hits the airwaves in April.
The 30-minute segment, titled “Water: The Best Deal Around,” showcases the value of tap water service and explains many of the factors affecting the cost of treating and delivering water today. Produced by Huell Howser and underwritten by ACWA, the segment debuts April 3 on KPBS in San Diego and KVIE in Sacramento. Additional airdates are scheduled throughout the state through June.
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The average American uses 90 gallons of water each day, of which only about two gallons go toward drinking and cooking. In fact, we use twice as much water – four gallons – washing dishes than we do in preparing and eatings out meals. Laundry uses, on average, 8.5 gallons of water a day per person, while 25 gallons of water a day per person go toward lawn watering and pools.
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A nine-acre park at Avalon Boulevard and 54th Street offers walking paths, native plants and pools with bacteria that clean polluted storm water.
It took three years and more than $26 million to turn an old MTA bus yard in South Los Angeles into what it is today: a sprawling park and urban wetland that will store and clean millions of gallons of storm water — while also giving children a place to play.
Unlike most parks, which feature green lawns and picnic tables, this one is composed of walking paths, native plants and several kidney-shaped pools filled with storm water. Naturally occurring bacteria clean pollutants from the water, which eventually feeds into a storm drain.
FOG clogs sewers and costs sewer customers additional money. Every day, large amounts are illegally washed into sewers mainly from food preparation establishments (usually through kitchen sinks and floor drains) that do not have adequate grease control measures in place. FOG attaches to the inner lining of the private plumbing system on your property, as well as the public sewer system in city streets.
Tons of trash normally swept to the ocean by the Los Angeles River should be captured by thousands of trash screens that have been installed beneath nearly every storm drain in the lower reaches of the river. The project is believed to be the largest debris-capturing effort in the nation and marks the most aggressive attack yet on river trash in the Los Angeles region. The project spans 16 cities and is expected to keep 840,000 pounds of debris — the equivalent of about 450 Volkswagen Beetles — from reaching the ocean each year, according to the Gateway Authority, a coalition of cities and public water agencies in southeastern L.A. County.
The biggest winner from the project is Long Beach, where workers routinely have to scoop floating islands of plastic bottles, grocery bags and other debris flowing from dozens of communities upstream before it litters the city’s coastline. In August 2010, crews began installing the stainless-steel, full-capture trash devices inside nearly 12,000 catch basins. The simple mesh contraptions sit just below the drains where water from city streets flows into the storm-water system and can catch debris as small as a cigarette butt.
Another 5,400 drains in the most-littered areas also were outfitted with street-level retractable screens as a second layer of defense.
LONG BEACH — Laundry day has taken on a whole new meaning in Long Beach as the city unveiled its latest water conservation project Tuesday – Laundry to Landscape.
According to city officials, the program will allow residents to conserve resources by using water from their washing machines, also known as graywater, for backyard irrigation systems for trees, shrubs and gardens.
In March, the City Council approved the program, which was co-sponsored by council members James Johnson, Patrick O’Donnell and Suja Lowenthal.
“Today, Long Beach leads the way by being one of the first cities to test this innovative way to conserve scarce water,” said Johnson. “By reusing water on site, graywater has the potential to both save water and money for Long Beach residents.
Brent Haddad studies water in a place where water is often in short supply: California.
Haddad is a professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. About 14 years ago, he became very interested in the issue of water reuse.
At the time, a number of California’s local water agencies were proposing a different approach to the state’s perennial water problems. They wanted to build plants that would clean local wastewater — aka sewage water — and after that cleaning, make it available as drinking water. But, says Haddad, these proposals were consistently shot down by an unwilling public.
“The public wasn’t really examining the science involved,” Haddad says. “They were just saying no.” This infuriated the water engineers, who thought the public’s response was fundamentally irrational, Haddad says.
“That’s what I would hear at these water agency meetings,” Haddad says, “these very frustrated water engineers saying, ‘My public is irrational! They are irrational! They simply won’t listen!’ ”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching a new strategy to promote the use of green infrastructure by cities and towns to reduce stormwater runoff that pollutes the nation’s streams, creeks, rivers, lakes and coastal waters. Green infrastructure decreases pollution to local waterways by treating rain where it falls and keeping polluted stormwater from entering sewer systems. In addition to protecting Americans’ health by decreasing water pollution, green infrastructure provides many community benefits including increased economic activity and neighborhood revitalization, job creation, energy savings and increased recreational and green space.
Large volumes of polluted stormwater degrade the nation’s rivers, lakes and aquatic habitats and contribute to downstream flooding. Green infrastructure captures and filters pollutants by passing stormwater through soils and retaining it on site. Effective green infrastructure tools and techniques include green roofs, permeable materials, alternative designs for streets and buildings, trees, rain gardens and rain harvesting systems.
As part of the strategy, EPA will work with partners including local governments, watershed groups, tribes and others in ten cities that have utilized green infrastructure and have plans for additional projects. EPA will encourage and support expanded use of green infrastructure in these cities and highlight them as models for other municipalities around the country. The ten cities are: Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Cleveland, OH; Denver, CO; Jacksonville, FL.; Kansas City, MO.; Los Angeles, CA; Puyallup, WA; Syracuse, N.Y.; and Washington, D.C. and neighboring Anacostia Watershed communities.
EPA will continue to work with other federal agencies, state and local governments, tribes, municipalities, and the private sector to identify opportunities for using green infrastructure and provide assistance to communities implementing green approaches to control stormwater. EPA will also provide additional tools to help states and communities leverage green infrastructure opportunities within other innovative environmental projects.
For more information on EPA’s green infrastructure agenda: http://epa.gov/greeninfrastructure
A year after work was completed on an elaborate system in Hermosa Beach that prevents storm water from reaching the ocean, the project has earned the city another prestigious prize.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week named the Strand Infiltration Project as the winner of the 2010 Performance and Innovation in the State Revolving Fund Creating Environmental Success – or PISCES – Award.
The award was created in 2005 and recognizes public works projects aimed at cutting down environmental pollution that are efficiently designed, managed and financed.
“It is truly an honor for the city and everyone involved in this project to have this recognition for all of the hard work and planning that went into the Strand Infiltration Trench Project,” Hermosa Beach Mayor Peter Tucker said in a statement. “Our city is committed to exploring new opportunities to make Hermosa Beach green.”
It is the second award the city has received for the ambitious project, which prevents filthy storm water from reaching local waters off the coast. In December, the Strand Infiltration Trench was named Project of the Year by the American Public Works Association.
City engineers designed the project to take advantage of the city’s location – on a massive sand dune – by using sand as a natural filtration system for polluted urban water runoff.
Work was completed in April and funded with about $950,850 in American Recovery and Reinvestment
The infiltration trench lies underground and stretches about 1,000 feet south of the city’s pier, collecting storm water and filtering it before returning it to groundwater tables.
Water is collected in city storm drains and processed through a pretreatment system, which removes trash, sediment and other toxins. The storm water is then filtered by sand to remove bacteria as it slowly flows safely to replenish ground water.
The infiltration trench is the second public works project completed by city engineers within the last year aimed at reducing the beach town’s environmental footprint.
In October, work was completed on the Pier Avenue Beautification Project. Improvements to the city’s main thoroughfare include wider sidewalks, a landscape center median and an additional storm drain and water-filtration system that further keeps polluted water from reaching the ocean.
The recent EPA award is the second the city has received from the agency for the pair of recently completed public works projects.
In December, the Pier Avenue project earned a 2010 Environmental Achievement Award from the EPA.
Hermosa Beach officials say the successful projects – and the national attention they are receiving – are proof the city is moving forward with bold environmental initiatives.
“We’re pushing the envelope when it comes to improving the environment,” Councilman Michael DiVirgilio, who has been leading the city’s environmental agenda, said in December. “And we’re doing it aggressively.”
City Manager Steve Burrell, who traveled to Sacramento last week on behalf of the city to accept the award, touted city engineers for their work on the project and said the new system has not encountered any problems, despite recent heavy rains.
“It’s a demonstration project and the idea is to show that this type of system could work,” Burrell said.
By the year 2013, 36 U.S. states are expected to face serious water shortages. Save Water Today is a public service campaign from the Student Conservation Association and American Water, in partnership with EPA’s WaterSense program.
Created by Emmy Award-winning writer and director Gilly Barnes, the videos feature celebrities sharing easy tips on how everyone can do their part to use water wisely and start making a difference in a matter of hours or days.
The Clean Water America Alliance is proud to announce the 2011 U.S. Water Prize winners. Each winner has been recognized for their watershed-based models and programs that advance our country toward greater water sustainability. “These five water champions reflect the diversity of America and set a shining example for innovating, integrating, and collaborating from coast to coast to sustain America’s most precious liquid asset,” explained Alliance President Ben Grumbles. U.S. Water Prize winners by alphabetical order are:
- The City of Los Angeles
- Milwaukee Water Council
- National Great Rivers Research & Education Center
- New York City Department of Environmental Protection
- Pacific Institute.
The City of Los Angeles, particularly the Bureau of Sanitation, and New York City Department of Environmental Protection are planning, integrating, and incorporating innovative green infrastructure approaches and increasing resource recovery through water reuse and other cutting edge technologies. Both cities are maximizing their resources through community partnerships and involvement.
“These five water champions reflect the diversity of America and set a shining example for innovating, integrating, and collaborating from coast to coast to sustain America’s most precious liquid asset,” explained Alliance President Ben Grumbles.
The Milwaukee Water Council (Wis.) is establishing public-private collaborations that advance water technology and promote economic development. As a result, the Milwaukee area is becoming known as a “World Water Hub.” A state-of-the-art facility, the National Great Rivers Research & Education Center (Alton, Ill.) is mobilizing volunteer communities around the confluence of two rivers and creating a national and international center for science, education and public outreach. The Pacific Institute is consistently in the vanguard of water issues from water use efficiency to climate change, informing political debate and elevating public awareness.
U.S. Water Prize winners will be honored in a special ceremony on May 9, 2011, at 5:30 p.m., in the Hotel Monaco of Washington, D.C. National water and environmental leaders will attend the celebration. Each recipient will receive a handcrafted ceramic art work commissioned from internationally acclaimed potter Miranda Thomas.
The Clean Water America Alliance created and administers the U.S. Water Prize to recognize achievement and inspire action for water sustainability. Black & Veatch, CDM, CH2M Hill, Pirnie/ARCADIS, Veolia, and Brown and Caldwell are proud sponsors of the inaugural 2011 award. For more information, visit www.CWAA.us.
Formed in 2008, the Clean Water America Alliance is a nonprofit 501c3 educational organization whose goal is to unite people and policies for water sustainability. A broad cross-section of interests is coming together through the Alliance to advance holistic, watershed-based approaches to water quality and quantity challenges.
Southern California laid miles of pipe and tunneled through mountains to import water. But it also built a storm drain system to quickly get rid of rainfall. The contradiction played out again this week.
The West Basin Municipal Water District formally dedicated its new ocean water desalination demonstration facility in Redondo Beach, CA on November 12. The demonstration facility will pull in about 580,000 gallons of ocean water a day. It hosts ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and energy recovery technologies. Similar membrane water purification processes are used at West Basin’s 30 million gallons a day wastewater recycling facility in El Segundo.
The Wastewater Maintenance Section in the City of Glendale, Calif., has attacked the root of its sewer problems by letting the guys in the field do their thing.
Plagued by sanitary sewer overflows, most often caused by root intrusion, the section abandoned its program of scheduled line-by-line CCTV monitoring and adopted a “spot check” approach based on field observations from its maintenance crews.
The results have been spectacular. “In early 2005, we were seeing an SSO rate as high as 15 spills per 100 miles of sewer line,” explains John Hicks, wastewater superintendent. “Since summer of 2008, we’re down to an average of about 3.5 spills per 100 miles, and we’ve flat-lined at that rate. In fact, within the last year we’ve gone 100 days without an SSO — not bad for a collection system of this age.”
Sixteen cities in southeast L.A. county are installing screens under storm drains that flow into the L.A. River. The project could keep 840,000 pounds of debris from reaching the ocean a year.
Every time it rains, workers in Long Beach rush to the mouth of the Los Angeles River to scoop up the floating islands of plastic bottles, grocery bags and other debris before it’s all swept onto local beaches or pulled out to sea.
The pre-eminent WateReuse Association has named the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) the WateReuse Institution of the Year for 2010. The award recognizes institutions whose significance and contributions to the community continue to advance the water reuse industry.
Southern California’s Joint Water Purification Pilot Program (JWPPP), which will evaluate the feasibility of wastewater reuse using advanced water treatment, has received a US$ 334,000 grant from the US Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART program.
How Does Sewage Treatment Work?
Sewage treatment turns out to be a somewhat less nasty business than you probably thought
By Scott Huler
The guy running the snake down our sewer looks matter-of-fact. Our sewage has been backing up. Right next to the pipe connecting our house to the sewer line running down our street stands a 70-year-old willow oak, and I worry the tree’s roots have found their way, during the droughty past year, into our line. He shrugs: Maybe it’s tree roots, maybe it’s a collapsed pipe, maybe it’s a yo-yo. The snake went in only a dozen feet or so and found a clog, and now the little claw at the end is spinning. Once he pulls it out we’ll know better what’s going on. I leave him to his business, though I cast an annoyed glance at the oak. Sewer pipes fit together simply, with a bell joint, and tiny root hairs find their way to the nutrient-rich flow, then grow larger, eventually growing large enough to shatter the vitreous clay pipe that forms so many service lines or dislodge a joint if the pipes are cast iron. Nobody knows what our pipes, 70 years old, are made of, but I fear we’re about to find out.
FILLMORE – Never has the Santa Clara River been filtered so vigorously, so urgently and at such great cost to tiny towns as it has in the last two years.
At least three brand-new, state-of-the-art water treatment plants, recycling plants and one pump house have been built or are in the planning stage along the river between the Santa Clarita Valley and the Pacific Ocean.
High energy-efficient plants in Santa Paula, Fillmore and Piru all started purifying water along the Santa Clara River within the last couple of months.
What motivated each tiny town to spend millions of dollars on infrastructure when each community, like the rest of America, struggles to rebound from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression?
