Within roughly 10
days, the City’s Groundwater Recovery Plant will be back online after being
shutdown to address colored-water issues. Construction upgrades have been
performed to improve the treatment process and remove elements from the
groundwater that can cause colored water, which was always safe to drink but
aesthetically unappealing.
The City’s plant
operator, SouthWest Water Company (SWWC), replaced certain plant components and made
significant changes to how the groundwater is treated. The proven technology
calls for 100 percent of the groundwater to now move through filters
specifically designed to remove elements that can produce colored water.
Before, only a portion of the water traveled through the filters and
blended with the balance of groundwater treated by reverse osmosis pre-filters
and membranes. When coupled with the groundwater elements that caused color,
that process resulted in a premature breakdown of the reverse osmosis membranes
and ineffective groundwater treatment.
Despite the
significant upgrades, the plant will still run at half capacity due to low
levels of Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) that was detected in two
production wells that feed into the Groundwater Recovery Plant. The City
Council earlier this year called for the shutdown of the wells until the MTBE
is no longer at a detectable level.
City and SWWC officials will sample the water on a regular
basis to ensure acceptable water quality. If any problems are discovered, the
plant will be shutdown. City officials say they appreciate the public’s
patience with the process, which could experience some short-term minor
start-up issues.
For more information
or to report colored-water issues, call 949-493-1515.