EPA Loan Gives East County Waste-Water Recycling Project a Big Boost
'Advanced Water Purification' project gets a $388 million low-interest loan plus a $90 million grant from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
East San Diego County hit a water-management milestone last Friday (June 4) when the Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $388 million low-interest long-term loan to the East County Advanced Water Purification program (AWP) to help build a $640 million waste-water treatment plant at the head of the Santee reservoir.
The AWP is run jointly by the Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Helix Water District, the City of El Cajon, and the County of San Diego.
The project is part of a fast-moving trend inspired by the Orange County Water District’s pioneer and world renowned Ground Water Replenishment System, which currently recycles waste-water to produce 100 gallons per day in potable water—and will be upgraded to produce 130 million gallons per day, enough water for 1 million people.
Politely put, the project is all about “local control and water reliability,” but it is also about the high rates for imported water set by the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) for its 24 member agencies, including in East County, that rely on the water but may believe they have little or no say in the matter of price.
The $388 low-interest loan comes out of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), which has provided billions of dollars for water infrastructure projects nationally.
In addition to the WIFIA loan, the project will benefit from $131 million in other government grants and incentives, including a $90 million Local Resources Project grant from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).
The press presentation was made at the Santee reservoir, the site of the future 12-acre purification plant that is now occupied by a small demonstration version that produces 100,000 gallons of purified water daily in the same four-step treatment process utilizing reverse osmosis that the finished plant will use.
The plant will take four years to build, planners say, and will provide about 11 million gallons of clean drinking water daily for 30,000 people (or 12,000 - 14,000 acre-feet a year) in the 100,000-ratepayer service area.
The new facility will benefit the ocean environment as well as help ensure reliability.
Currently, most of East County’s waste water is shipped to San Diego for partial treatment after which it is dumped in the ocean. But the AWP project will blend its fully treated (potable) water into the Helix Water District’s surface reservoir, Lake Jennings, 11 miles away.
There it will sit for several months before undergoing a final treatment at the R.M. Levy Water Treatment Plant. From there it will be distributed to homes and businesses.
Discharge and other permits are still needed before construction can start, but it has received conceptual approval from state regulators.
“This program is unique and forward thinking in so many ways,” said program director Kyle Swanson, who works for the Padre Dam water district.
“It’s no understatement to say access to safe, reliable, drinking water is of the utmost importance to everyone,” he said.
EPA assistant administrator Radhika Fox emphasized the project’s effect on local job growth and economic stability.
The EPA’s water infrastructure program has repeatedly shown, she said, that we can protect public health and the environment while generating sustainable development and jobs.
“Water infrastructure is one of the best bets we can make as a nation to improve our communities,” she said, claiming that the AWP project would create 2,500 jobs while saving local ratepayers $140 million.