Recycled Water Press Release
Published 2018-11-27 11:25:03
For immediate release: November 26, 2018
For more information:
Phil Scott: (650) 321-0384
West Bay Sanitary District’s Recycled Water Project –
to Save Millions of Gallons of
Hetch Hetchy Water Annually
District to start construction on Sand Hill Road on project that will bring
recycled water to Menlo Park
MENLO PARK, CA – West Bay Sanitary District is excited to announce that they are breaking ground now on a satellite recycled water treatment plant that will bring recycled water for irrigation purposes to Menlo Park. This recycled water will save approximately 50 million gallons per year of Hetch Hetchy water in Phase I of the project and possibly another 27 million gallons per year of Hetch Hetchy water when Phase II of the project is implemented.
The $22.6 million project will include a recycled water facility in Sharon Heights at the 280 Highway and will supply irrigation water in Phase I and hopefully provide recycled water for both irrigation and industrial purposes, i.e. cooling towers, in Phase II of the project. West Bay Sanitary District is receiving grants and a 1% interest loan from Clean Water State Revolving Fund to finance the project.
“This is a public-private partnership which will benefit our rate payers and the entire community,” said West Bay Sanitary District Manager Phil Scott.
“This is the first public recycled water system in Menlo Park,” said Fran Dehn, West Bay Sanitary District’s Board Secretary, “We’re proud to implement this project, which will conserve the state’s most valuable resource and benefit all of Menlo Park.”
In addition to replacing up to 400,000 gallons per day of potable water from Hetch Hetchy for irrigation, a second phase of the project is anticipated to deliver recycled water to the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) for irrigation and industrial uses such as cooling towers.
West Bay’s Board awarded the contract for the Recycled Water Project – Sharon Heights to the team of Anderson Pacific/Water Works Engineers/Veolia. It will include construction of a satellite recycled water treatment facility, an influent supply pipeline along Sand Hill Road, a pump station for the influent supply and a recycled water distribution pipeline connection for future use. Construction is scheduled to proceed from Winter of 2018 and is anticipated to be complete in fall of 2019.
“Wastewater used to be something that was be cleaned up enough to safely dispose of into the bay or rivers, but ultimately lost,” Scott explained. “Now it’s a valuable resource that we can treat and reuse for irrigation and industrial uses, freeing pristine Hetch Hetchy water for use by Bay Area residents. This type of conservation project, which is facing difficult water years more frequently.”
West Bay has also completed a feasibility study exploring the viability of a Resource Recovery Center at the District’s former treatment plant behind Bedwell Bayfront Park, which could potentially produce up to 1 million gallons per day of recycled water for reuse.
The District is laying the ground work for recycled water in East Menlo Park (Connect Menlo area). In a public/private partnership with Facebook, the West Bay Board of Directors spearheaded the effort in to install 2,800 feet of purple recycled water pipe parallel with the storm drain pipe Facebook was replacing on Chilco Street. This pipe can be used in the future to distribute recycled water in the area without reconstructing the street again.
Recycled water from such a facility could potentially be used for irrigation, industrial purposes, firefighting, public fill stations and even for flushing toilets in the Bayfront (M-2) area. This regional approach would be sustainable, less expensive and available to a broader user base than expensive onsite treatment systems. The study will explore costs, challenges, funding opportunities and the complexity and duration of the project.
More information on West Bay’s Recycled Water Projects can be found at https://westbaysanitary.org/services/recycled-water/.
About West Bay Sanitary District
West Bay Sanitary District provides wastewater collection and conveyance services to the City of Menlo Park, Atherton, and Portola Valley, and areas of East Palo Alto, Woodside and unincorporated San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
Please note:
Funding for this $22.6 M West Bay Sanitary District Recycled Water Project – Sharon Heights has been provided in full or in part by the Proposition 1 – the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 and the Clean Water States Revolving Fund is capitalized through a variety of funding sources, including grants from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and state bond proceeds.
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Click the link to download the PDF version of the press release: Recycled Water Comes to Menlo Park