My Local Veolia projects

The Past & Future of West Basin’s Water & Wastewater

For many years, The West Basin Municipal Water District faced the challenge of a high demand on a scarce water supply from Northern California and the Colorado River. As a solution, the West Basin Municipal Water District’s recycled water program was designed to conserve the limited supply of drinking water in the South Bay region. Since 1994, Veolia North America and the West Basin Municipal Water District have worked together to successfully preserve potable water supplies in The Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility, the largest treatment facility of its type in the country.

Veolia operates and maintains the facility, which has the capacity to produce 50 mgd of recycled water for use in a wide variety of commercial, industrial, and irrigation applications. By substituting recycled water for potable water, this public-private partnership effectively eases the demand for the district’s scarce water supply. More recycled water also provides a benefit to the environment since less treated wastewater is released into the ocean resulting in healthier marine life within the Santa Monica Bay.

With the use of recycled water rapidly growing, the facility recently went under its fourth expansion to provide an additional capacity of 15 million gallons per day (mgd). The installation of a 20 mgd pretreatment high-rate clarifier was designed to improve the influent water quality. Also included in the expansion were a 5 million gallon storage tank and pump station, microfiltration and reverse osmosis units, and an ultraviolet treatment system.

Based on these modifications, the plant now has the capacity to produce 12.5 mgd of barrier water which is used to protect the South Bay’s coastal groundwater reservoirs against saltwater intrusion from the Pacific Ocean. All told, over 140 billion gallons have been recycled since 1995.

Sound impressive? It is. The West Basin Water Recycling Facility is so advanced that it is recognized as one of six National Centers for Water Treatment Technologies by the National Water Research Institute.

The West Basin Municipal Water District’s goal to replace half of the region’s imported water with recycled water would not be possible without Veolia as a partner. Veolia understands that recycling water is wise for the economy, the environment, and the community of Southern California.