Carlsbad CA— The City of Carlsbad will expand its water recycling plant by 75 percent to help relieve pressure on the city’s drinking water supply by providing a drought-proof water supply.
The City Council, in its role as the board of the Carlsbad Municipal Water District, voted on Tuesday to approve an $8.0 million contract with CDM Constructors to expand the Carlsbad Water Recycling Facility’s capacity to 7 million gallons a day, from its current 4 million gallons a day. The expansion project includes adding 18 miles of new pipe to the existing 79-mile recycled water distribution system and building a new 1.5 million-gallon reservoir for recycled water storage.
“The City of Carlsbad is committed to an ambitious water recycling program because it is a drought-proof supply that safeguards our drinking water supply,” said City of Carlsbad Public Works Director Pat Thomas. “About 90 percent of our region’s water is imported from Northern California or the Colorado River, so it’s important for us to conserve and stretch this resource as far as possible.”
Expanding the city’s water recycling program increases water reliability to Carlsbad homes and businesses by substituting recycled water for drinking water for irrigation. After the expansion, the city projects that one-third of Carlsbad’s water supply will be recycled water in 2020.
Each gallon of recycled water that is used to irrigate parks, street medians, freeway landscaping, The Flower Fields and golf courses saves a gallon of drinking water, which is facing severe restrictions due to a prolonged dry period and legal restrictions on pumping water through the environmentally fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in Northern California.
The water district produces recycled water by boosting the treatment of wastewater with additional filtration and disinfection to make it usable for irrigation and other non-drinking purposes. Recycled water is about 21 percent cheaper than potable water, because the water district controls the price and production. And customers who purchase recycled water for irrigation are not subject to the recently passed drought restrictions.
Carlsbad has invested approximately $55 million in recycled water projects to date, and infrastructure includes the water recycling plant, pipelines, four pumping stations and storage capacity totaling 35.5 million gallons. Because of this investment the city has more than doubled its recycled water consumption in the last 10 years. Carlsbad has more recycled water meters than any other water district in San Diego County.
As part of the expansion project, the water district is extending the pipeline carrying recycled water to two new sections of the city, including the Palomar Airport Business Park along Camino Vida Roble and the Calavera Hills area along Carlsbad Village Drive. Other expansion projects include one mile of pipe along El Camino Real south of Alga Road and about one-half mile of pipe along Palmer Way and Impala Drive, near Faraday Avenue.
In response to state-imposed restrictions on water consumption because of the ongoing drought, the Carlsbad Municipal Water District has launched a water conservation campaign to raise awareness of new water use rules and encourage greater conservation.
The city is also expecting its first delivery of drinkable water from a new drought-proof supply — the Pacific Ocean — later this year. The Carlsbad Desalination Project, being built by Poseidon Water, will provide between 7 and 10 percent of the region’s water supply via the San Diego County Water Authority’s regional water distribution system.
The 10-year-old Carlsbad Water Recycling Facility is located next to the Encina Water Pollution Control Facility on Avenida Encinas and is maintained and operated by the Encina Wastewater Authority. It is one of three sources of recycled water distributed by the Carlsbad Municipal Water District. The other two supply sources are the Meadowlark Treatment Plant, owned and operated by the Vallecitos Water District, and the Gafner Treatment Plant, owned and operated by the Leucadia Wastewater District.
The Carlsbad Municipal Water District, a subsidiary of the City of Carlsbad, serves about 85 percent of the city. South and southeastern portions of the city are served by the Vallecitos Water District and the Olivenhain Municipal Water District.
The expansion project is being funded by several sources, including grants, loans and water district enterprise funds that have been allocated for expansion of the district’s recycled water network.