Water Reclamation An important part of the City’s expanding emphasis on
water conservation is the concept that water is a resource that can be
used more than once. Because
all uses of water do not require the same quality of supply, the City
has been developing programs to use reclaimed water for suitable
landscaping and industrial uses. Water reclamation programs currently meet some of the
City’s landscaping supply needs.
Reclaimed water from the 20 million gallon per day Los Angeles
Glendale Water Reclamation Plant is used to irrigate two golf courses in
Los Angeles’ Griffith Park, supply cooling water to a Glendale power
plant, and irrigate landscaping along the Golden State Freeway.
Use of reclaimed water at the park and for freeway
landscaping will be expanded in the future and the DWP has plans to use
the Glendale facility to supply more than 400 million gallons per year
to four large irrigation customers nearby. A second 40 million-gallon per day facility, the Donald C.
Tillman Water Reclamation Plant, supplies irrigation water to golf
courses and parks in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area. Plans are underway to further develop water reclamation for
Los Angeles. Its use,
however, is limited by state health requirements and the high cost of
pumping plants and distribution facilities to deliver water from the
reclamation plants to the customers. Even though Los Angeles is located in a semi-arid region,
its water supply often has been taken for granted. Periodic droughts, resulting measures and ongoing DWP
programs serve to remind us that the responsibility to conserve water
belongs to all of us. |
