On Wednesday Oct. 29th officials broke ground on an expansion of the Whittier Narrows water reuse program. The project will expand the use of highly treated wastewater and send it to the golf course for reuse, according to the Whittier Daily News.
The expansion is being spearheaded by the Upper San Gabriel Valley Water District which has already invested $10-million in water reuse projects around the Whittier Narrows area.
The brand new processing facility in Rialto will use the SlurryCarb process to turn wastewater sludge into clean burning fuel pellets called “e-fuel”. The fuel is then used by nearby cement facilities to fire their kilns.
According to Atlanta based EnerTech:
On October 15th the plant began start-up by accepting its first truckload of biosolids. The event was observed by representatives from the five municipalities currently providing biosolids to the facility.
And the Orange County Sanitation District points out in a news release:
On November 3rd OCSD will send an average of 11 trucks a day to EnerTech’s Rialto facility. This is the equivalent of 225 tons of biosolids, which is about 1/3 of what OCSD produces. This new facility is OCSD’s closest recycling location. It is an environmentally-friendly way of recycling biosolids and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
EnerTech’s Rialto facility website.
WEF announced today that LACSD has won an Excellence Award for their public education program called the Clearwater Program. The Public Education Award is given to organizations which excel at reaching out to the public. The award will be presented at the 2008 WEFTEC conference in Chicago in October.
LACSD’s Clearwater outreach program has been honored by LABS (pictured above), CWEA and now WEF. The Public Affairs office also won an award from NACWA this year.
Congratulations to the outstanding Public Affairs staff of LACSD.
County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County
at the Valencia Water Reclamation Plant
TREATMENT PLANT OPERATOR II
Salary: $5453 B $6773/mo. (DOQ)
The County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County has a full-time opening for an experienced wastewater treatment plant operator at the Valencia Water Reclamation Plant (located in Valencia, California near the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park). This is a career opportunity with one of the leading and most innovative agencies of its kind. This position leads a two-to-four person crew, makes operational decisions and performs flow process control adjustments in a state-of-the-art 21.6 MGD activated sludge plant with tertiary treatment, disinfection and solids handling.
The American Academy of Environmental Engineers presents a special dinner meeting focusing on water reclamation scheduled for Thursday September 25th at the LACSD headquarters in Whittier. The featured speakers are Jeffrey Kightlinger, General Manager for MWD and Steve Maguin, General Manager for LACSD.
Details and RSVP info after the jump…
At a recent Board of Directors meeting, LACSD General Manager Steve Maguin honored 459 companies for their efforts in meeting discharge requirements in 2007. Best quote:
“This is a great example of private industry working with regulators for economic and environmental benefits,” said Ron Wood, President and CEO of the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership. “Their determination and innovation show that we can have a diverse and growing economy while maintaining our quality of life.”
Full list of companies after the jump…
By Wendy Wert
Sewer Leaks Editor
On April 24, the Los Angeles Basin Section (LABS) of California Water Environment Association (CWEA) held the annual installation banquet. The featured speakers at the event, Joe Houghton and Dave Haug, presented an overview of the Clearwater Program.
The LA County Sanitation Districts has a new video about their Clearwater Program and public involvement (note: Windows Media Video takes a moment to load).
The LACSD and Culligan Water Conditioning of Orange County have partnered to remove about 1,000 units by mid-2009. There is a problem with chlorides (salt) in local rivers and water softeners are a top source. Money quote:
“As we work toward ridding our Valley of automatic water softeners it becomes clear that partnerships such as the Culligan agreement… in addition to the good stewardship by our residents, is vital in removing salt from the Santa Clara River,” remarked Mayor Bob Kellar, Santa Clarita.
The region needs to meet certain chloride levels set by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board or a brand new advanced wastewater treatment facility will need to be constructed.
By Wendy Wert
Editor
On October 25, 2007 the Los Angeles Basin Section (LABS) of CWEA hosted a Dinner and Training meeting at the Monterey Hill Restaurant in Monterey Park. The featured speaker Preeti Ghuman a Civil Engineer, with the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts (LACSD), currently works on residential pollution prevention and source control. She manages the multimillion dollar Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District’s Automatic Water Softener Rebate Program and public outreach campaign. Ms. Ghuman introduced the project and discussed progress, highlighting innovative approaches.
