really? recycling our own feces and urine into drinking water huh? how about common sense water use regulation instead? your tax dollars fund this crap.
You've shown how the water is cleaned, I was interested in the next bit: How do they 'recharge' the aquifer exactly? I picture dozens of 'reverse wells' that pump water deep underground to the aquifer?
Very good video. We wouldn’t be able to do this in Utah because the farmers own the water rights to the effluent from the wastewater plants or it has to go to the great salt lake to keep the water level up
@@arronviolin 'Brine' is a euphemism here. This waste is full of human excrement, urine, chemical waste, etc. Very polluting. I imagine they dessicate it and put it to a landfill.
And you will be never guess where that massive amount of incredibly salty brine is disposed off ? The oceans . California spends so much money building and maintaining these RO capture projects. There’s another one in El Segundo call West Basin which I worked on during construction and start up.
The signs for the three stainless steel tubs have the first sign RO on it and second tub MF. Need to swap sign 1 and 2 around. Third tub correctly signed. What have I missed?
Why is it injected into the aquifer instead of going back into the potable water distribution system? Seems to me that injecting it into the ground would create inefficiencies like needing to retreat it once it comes out of a well. If the water was sent back to the distributors, it would decrease the need for water districts to pull from aquifers. What am I not considering?
I'm going to guess you're correct, and this is perfectly safe water, however 1) It's cultural, and people don't want to drink waste water. 2) Going through soil is an additional (redundant) treatment step 3) The aquifer acts as a giant storage tank allowing for peaks and troughs in demand and supply 4) They may be operating under regulations that are just a touch too stringent. Not to say that regulation isn't absolutely necessary, but looking at that process, I'd be perfectly comfortable drinking it.
Regulations at the time this plant was constructed required what is referred to as an "environmental buffer" in water reuse scenarios. The underground aquifer fulfills that requirement in the same way a that a river, stream or other body of water is the location for discharge from wastewater systems elsewhere in the country. California approved direct potable reuse rules in November 2023, which create a regulatory framework that gets at what you've mentioned. Here's our podcast episode with two industry professionals who helped develop it: www.wwdmag.com/water-reuse-recycling/podcast/33038005/talking-under-water-what-californias-new-direct-potable-reuse-regulations-mean
Do they inject the treated water into the ground? Looks like the treatment plant just dumps it into the canal leading to the ocean. Where does all the millions of gallons of brine produced each day get stored or trucked away to? How many truckloads is that?
It’s awesome to see people who seem to like the most boring jobs in the world and don’t mind working on them day in and day out. I wouldn’t want to live in LA without the ability to take hour long showers and around the clock lawn sprinklers
Ensuring the continuity of water supply is not boring. People are unaware of the astonishing infrastructure which makes it possible for anyone in a municipality to open a faucet and get clean, safe water.
@@antonomaseapophasis5142 That's exactly my point. To the people who have committed their lives to it it is far from boring. But for the rest of us it is. But we recognize that it is most critical.
There are some CA towns with reasonably priced town houses connected to Desalinization infrastructure. I wouldn't trust a lot of wells & water tables in rural America to be viable in 50 years from now. If a town or city has desalinization then they'll be ok with expanding the capacity when needed, versus a town that would fight against desalination today.
Ok I’ve been thinking more about this. Is the water coming straight from the wastewater plants effluent? If so why spend so much money building the uv and chemical dosing system? The water would have just gone through that as it exited the wastewater plant
WWTPs do not produce potable water. Water that is directly injected into any aquifer has to be of the highest quality to avoid permanently polluting the aquifer.
@@SiR8081correct. But from the aquifer it is drawn into a water treatment plant where it is treated and enters the cities drinking systems. And if it is coming straight from a wastewater plants effluent the last step is uv and chemical treatment before it goes to this setup shown in the video. So in theory the water should be at an acceptable level for pathogens and coliforms
As others have noted, regulations require the treatment to this degree and the use of the aquifer as an environmental buffer for indirect potable reuse. New rules approved in November of 2023 open a pathway toward direct potable reuse in California, however. Here's a link to our podcast episode with more details on how those rules will impact the water industry at large: www.wwdmag.com/water-reuse-recycling/podcast/33038005/talking-under-water-what-californias-new-direct-potable-reuse-regulations-mean
Where is the water to feed the plant coming from?? If it is sewage water then it's worth the effort , if it's not ... then let nature do it's job and don't try to fix whats not broken, all you need is making natural watersheds in that area instead of using all the electricity to do a job that is not needed.
This is the stuff worth spending money on.
really? recycling our own feces and urine into drinking water huh? how about common sense water use regulation instead? your tax dollars fund this crap.
You've shown how the water is cleaned, I was interested in the next bit: How do they 'recharge' the aquifer exactly? I picture dozens of 'reverse wells' that pump water deep underground to the aquifer?
Nice video! Such an important topic and interesting to learn about
Very good video. We wouldn’t be able to do this in Utah because the farmers own the water rights to the effluent from the wastewater plants or it has to go to the great salt lake to keep the water level up
...eventually
How do they dispose of the brine and backwash water?
It is sent back to the Orange County Sanitation District
It's towed outside the environment
@@ocwaterdistrictIsn’t Orange County on the ocean? Why not just put the brine and brackish water into the ocean?
@@arronviolin 'Brine' is a euphemism here. This waste is full of human excrement, urine, chemical waste, etc. Very polluting. I imagine they dessicate it and put it to a landfill.
@@losclaveles To another environment...
It would have been helpful if the energy used in the plant (say cost per cubic meter of water) could have been discussed.
And you will be never guess where that massive amount of incredibly salty brine is disposed off ? The oceans . California spends so much money building and maintaining these RO capture projects. There’s another one in El Segundo call West Basin which I worked on during construction and start up.
Awesome, true role model for the rest of the world👏👍
The signs for the three stainless steel tubs have the first sign RO on it and second tub MF. Need to swap sign 1 and 2 around. Third tub correctly signed.
What have I missed?
Why is it injected into the aquifer instead of going back into the potable water distribution system? Seems to me that injecting it into the ground would create inefficiencies like needing to retreat it once it comes out of a well. If the water was sent back to the distributors, it would decrease the need for water districts to pull from aquifers. What am I not considering?
I'm going to guess you're correct, and this is perfectly safe water, however 1) It's cultural, and people don't want to drink waste water. 2) Going through soil is an additional (redundant) treatment step 3) The aquifer acts as a giant storage tank allowing for peaks and troughs in demand and supply 4) They may be operating under regulations that are just a touch too stringent. Not to say that regulation isn't absolutely necessary, but looking at that process, I'd be perfectly comfortable drinking it.
Regulations at the time this plant was constructed required what is referred to as an "environmental buffer" in water reuse scenarios. The underground aquifer fulfills that requirement in the same way a that a river, stream or other body of water is the location for discharge from wastewater systems elsewhere in the country.
California approved direct potable reuse rules in November 2023, which create a regulatory framework that gets at what you've mentioned. Here's our podcast episode with two industry professionals who helped develop it: www.wwdmag.com/water-reuse-recycling/podcast/33038005/talking-under-water-what-californias-new-direct-potable-reuse-regulations-mean
SMART PEOPLE YOU ALL!!!
Does the water pumped from the aquifer undergo further treatment before it is considered potable?
It's sewage water.
Do they inject the treated water into the ground? Looks like the treatment plant just dumps it into the canal leading to the ocean. Where does all the millions of gallons of brine produced each day get stored or trucked away to? How many truckloads is that?
There are similar units in Singapore.
It’s awesome to see people who seem to like the most boring jobs in the world and don’t mind working on them day in and day out. I wouldn’t want to live in LA without the ability to take hour long showers and around the clock lawn sprinklers
Ensuring the continuity of water supply is not boring.
People are unaware of the astonishing infrastructure which makes it possible for anyone in a municipality to open a faucet and get clean, safe water.
@@antonomaseapophasis5142 That's exactly my point. To the people who have committed their lives to it it is far from boring. But for the rest of us it is. But we recognize that it is most critical.
There are some CA towns with reasonably priced town houses connected to Desalinization infrastructure. I wouldn't trust a lot of wells & water tables in rural America to be viable in 50 years from now. If a town or city has desalinization then they'll be ok with expanding the capacity when needed, versus a town that would fight against desalination today.
130,000,000 gallons a day for 2,500,000 people is 52 gallons a day per person? just from this source? what the hell are you guys doing in california?!
Very interesting. Well spent money considering how much we throw away at dumb things overseas at present.
🎼jungle boogie 🎶🎶🎶🎶
Ok I’ve been thinking more about this. Is the water coming straight from the wastewater plants effluent? If so why spend so much money building the uv and chemical dosing system? The water would have just gone through that as it exited the wastewater plant
WWTPs do not produce potable water. Water that is directly injected into any aquifer has to be of the highest quality to avoid permanently polluting the aquifer.
@@SiR8081correct. But from the aquifer it is drawn into a water treatment plant where it is treated and enters the cities drinking systems. And if it is coming straight from a wastewater plants effluent the last step is uv and chemical treatment before it goes to this setup shown in the video. So in theory the water should be at an acceptable level for pathogens and coliforms
@@jbstrongman They are being extra cautious because there is a lot of "FUD" around treating waste water back to drinking standards.
As others have noted, regulations require the treatment to this degree and the use of the aquifer as an environmental buffer for indirect potable reuse. New rules approved in November of 2023 open a pathway toward direct potable reuse in California, however. Here's a link to our podcast episode with more details on how those rules will impact the water industry at large: www.wwdmag.com/water-reuse-recycling/podcast/33038005/talking-under-water-what-californias-new-direct-potable-reuse-regulations-mean
Id be more comfortable having the water filtered naturally...through sand and stone as it seeps back down.
Well nobody is stopping you from drinking ground water
Where is the water to feed the plant coming from?? If it is sewage water then it's worth the effort , if it's not ... then let nature do it's job and don't try to fix whats not broken, all you need is making natural watersheds in that area instead of using all the electricity to do a job that is not needed.
California has a good strategy for dealing with water security issues, I think every water treatment plant should be converted to one of these.