WATERSTORIES

WESTBASIN, CA

CHALLENGES PAGE 5

SOLUTIONS PAGE 7

RESULTS PAGE 9

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY PAGE 11

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT PAGE 13

THE FUTURE PAGE 15

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“It is important for the water industry to continue being innovative in resolving today’s water supply issues. Partnerships like this with United Water are critical to West Basin’s success, and it is an honor to be recognized for this aspect of our operations.”

—Edward C. Little, West Basin Municipal Water District Board of Directors

THE RIGHT MOVE FORSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

CHALLENGES

Southern California presents one of the country’s most challenging water-management environments. Recurring and persistent drought, unchecked population growth and an overburdened water transfer system that was designed for 18 million people and now serves 37 million are all challenges requiring innovative solutions.

Northern California and the Colorado River, which together provide two thirds of the water needed by Southern California, are becoming increasingly unreliable as sources. To the north, climate change has made the Sierra Nevada snowmelt, a very important component of the water supply, much less predictable. In addition, measures to protect the Delta Smelt have limited the amount of water that can be pumped or exported via the State Water Project, the nation’s largest state-built water conveyance system. To the east, competition for Colorado River water is increasing. Even then, the water that is available has a high concentration of calcium carbonate, requiring water treatment.

Additionally, the Bay Delta, an essential conveyance system to move water from Northern California to Southern California, needs to be upgraded or replaced due to the age of the levees and the vulnerability of the system. However, the capital cost to address the unreliable Bay Delta transfer system is approximately $13 billion and, in addition, the eco-restoration cost is approximately $3.6 billion.

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SOLUTIONS

United Water Environmental Services has been working side by side with the West Basin Municipal Water District to address water reliability. Under the terms of the contract, United Water provides operation and maintenance services for the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility, as well as for three satellite operations for Chevron, Exxon Mobil and the Carson Regional Water Recycling Facility, which serves the BP refinery. United Water employs approximately 55 full-time highly skilled employees for the West Basin operation.

We offer comprehensive professional services, including operation and maintenance of the internationally acclaimed water recycling program; operation of highly technical unit processes for producing five qualities of recycled water; laboratory services; research and development; project management (including an ocean water desalination demonstration facility); engineering services; design review and capital improvement planning and implementation.

Recently asset management was added to the scope of services offered to the West Basin Municipal Water District. The significant process includes inventorying all assets, identifying the life of the asset based on established industry estimates and assisting West Basin with preparing a capital budget based on those estimates. “The process allows West Basin and United Water to be proactive and plan for upcoming projects, working with water customers to minimize production or operational impacts,” says Brent McGovern, Project Manager, United Water Environmental Services. “Once completed, asset management will allow for better budgeting and a more sustainable operation, further improving system reliability.” As of April 2013, United Water had completed the Chevron nitrification facility assessment and the Hyperion pump station inventory. United Water and West Basin are now assessing the inventory of the Barrier water system, says McGovern.

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RESULTS

Supported by parent company SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT, United Water and West Basin have worked jointly to preserve more than 140 billion gallons of potable water, ease demand on a scarce water supply and—each day—prevent approximately 50 tons of solid waste from being discharged into the Santa Monica Bay. In addition, United Water and West Basin have saved energy by reducing the need for water to be imported from hundreds of miles away to protect South Bay’s coastal groundwater reservoirs against saltwater intrusion.

United Water has also helped the West Basin Municipal Water District address unforeseen problems that arise in meeting the needs of more than 300 customers that use its recycled water. For example, water conservation efforts in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, along with process changes at the Hyperion Wastewater Treatment Plant, lead to increased ammonia concentrations in the influent water that supplies the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility. Ultimately, the nitrification systems could not fully treat the increasing ammonia concentrations, resulting in a system scaling issue that essentially cut off cooling tower water production to Chevron and increased maintenance at each of the three satellite facilities.

United Water researched the problem, conducted water quality analysis, contacted the original equipment manufacturer and developed a cost-effective solution which involved modifying the existing sodium hydroxide feed system for alkalinity adjustment and using carbon dioxide to control the pH of the BIOFOR® (nitrification system) feed water. The use of CO2 was safe, easy to use and implement and far less expensive than the next alternative, which required the use of sodium bicarbonate. Working together, United Water and West Basin modified the nitrification systems at each of the satellite facilities, thereby increasing production and revenue while decreasing maintenance costs and improving water quality.

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INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

West Basin Municipal Water District is a leader in water recycling, and the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility is a model for innovation and technology. The Edward C. Little facility is the only facility in the world that produces five different so-called “designer waters,” that is, five different grades of water designed to meet specific needs of the end user and suitable for a range of uses from industrial to landscape irrigation to groundwater recharge.

Different combinations of technology are used to produce the different types of water. The technologies include DensaDeg high-rate clarification; microfiltration; reverse osmosis; ultraviolet disinfection; advanced oxidation process; and BIOFOR®, biological filtration systems made by United Water’s sister company Infilco Degremont. Another treatment process, ozonation, has been added as part of the Phase V expansion of the Edward C. Little facility. Ozonation will pretreat the source water secondary effluent prior to processing it though the microfiltration units.

Additionally, an Ocean-Water Desalination Demonstration facility uses ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis to produce approximately 40 gallons per minute of desalinated ocean water. This water is recombined with the brine and returned to the ocean as it is used solely for testing purposes, to validate the design and operational parameters of a full-scale facility. Testing and studies being performed include such initiatives as a high salinity sensitivity study, a water quality integration study, energy optimization, process performance optimization and an impingement and entrainment intake assessment. As part of the facility’s operations, approximately 500 analytical tests are performed monthly.

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Microfiltration: A process in which water is pressurized through pipes containing straw-like fibers with pores 5,000 times smaller than a pinhole.

Reverse Osmosis: A process in which water is pressurized at about 200 pounds per square inch through tightly wound layers of membranes with pores that are 5 million times smaller than a pinhole. To date, reverse osmosis is the most advanced filtration process.

Advanced Oxidation: A process used to break down organic compounds such as pesticides, surfactants, pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting chemicals. The main function of Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) is the

generation of highly reactive free radicals to destroy organic chemicals.

BIOFOR ®: A process used to remove BOD, TSS and ammonia pollution in treated wastewater to produce treated water that conforms to high quality standards after it is filtered through the Biolite filter media.

Ozonation: A water treatment process that breaks up organics into smaller particles to reduce the fouling of microfiltration units. This is completed through an infusion of ozone, a gas produced by subjecting oxygen molecules to high electrical voltage. In addition to reducing the fouling of the membranes, ozonation also disinfects.

Treatment Processes

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COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

In addition to developing innovative, environmentally sustainable processes, United Water and West Basin are dedicated to making their communities better places to live. Whether it’s donating food to those in need or sponsoring a water educational event, we are proud to be leaders and participate in activities that help enrich the communities in which we live and serve.

United Water and West Basin share a fervent interest in educating the community about the water industry—in particular, the importance of water conservation. Since the beginning of their partnership, United Water has supported West Basin’s award-winning programs in water conservation and environmental education. These programs target third through 12th grade students and include classroom curricula, art contests, science fairs and field trips.

Every October, West Basin hosts its annual Water Harvest Festival, in which they invite vendors from throughout the water industry to come and educate the public about the water cycle, water usage and water conservation. Held at the Edward C. Little facility, the event is filled with tours, activities, food and prizes.

United Water and West Basin also support an annual groundwater festival hosted by the Water Replenishment District (WRD) of Southern California. The event provides interactive activities and lessons about water resources, recycling and conservation; eco-gardening and the environment. The festival usually coincides with National Groundwater Awareness Week, which recognizes the importance of groundwater as an indispensable and renewable resource across the nation.

United Water also annually supports the Southwest Membrane Operators Association (SWMOA) conference through sponsorships and conference presentations. An affiliate of the American Membrane Technology Association, the SWMOA is dedicated to designing and developing technologies that improve the quality of water supplies through desalting, reuse and other water sciences.

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THE FUTURE

West Basin is currently finalizing its fourth expansion. The 2+ year expansion, expected to be completed mid- 2013, will allow the West Basin Municipal Water District to use 100 percent recycled water in the West Coast Basin Seawater Barrier. West Basin is currently approved to inject recycled water at a blend of 75 percent recycled water to 25 percent imported potable water. The improvements will also raise the capacity of the Barrier-water system by 5 mgd to 17.5 mgd. The Barrier system allows for the injection of a drinking-water quality product into a series of 153 wells along the Pacific Ocean. The injected water serves two purposes: it replenishes the groundwater, becoming the future drinking water, and serves as a buffer to keep the Pacific Ocean from infiltrating and contaminating this high-quality source water.

Other changes in the West Basin system include:

• Shifting NRG’s El Segundo (CA) Power Plant from using potable water for its boiler feed application process to using high-quality recycled water. The single-pass reverse osmosis system has been expanded to produce an additional 0.47 mgd

• Doubling the Title 22 high-rate clarification capacity to meet additional customer demands for irrigation-quality recycled water

• Expanding solids handling facilities, including the addition of gravity belt thickeners, to manage additional waste streams that come with the facility expansion/production increases

West Basin is also conducting a feasibility study to expand the Carson Regional Water Recycling Facility. Through this study, West Basin will examine the potential further expansion of recycled water. The feasibility study will determine the treatment requirements and improvements needed to expand production at the Carson facility, determine pipeline routing and sizing requirements to supply recycled water and develop detailed cost estimates for expansion and construction.

The West Basin Municipal Water District has taken the next step identified in the Program Master Plan towards a proposed full-scale Ocean Water Desalination Demonstration Facility by initiating the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process with a kick-off meeting in April 2013. The EIR is another step towards construction of the full scale facility by 2020.

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