Overview

Since its creation in 1975, SAWPA has been involved in a number of projects that SAWPA was the lead or co-lead agency, in which the project was designed, constructed, and tested. After bringing the project on line, SAWPA then turned the operations and management of the project to another agency/entity.  This page summarizes some of the major projects that have been developed by SAWPA in this way.

Stringfellow Treatment Plant
Pedley, California

Stringfellow, a current Federal Superfund site, is located in Pyrite Canyon, northwest of the city of Riverside.  Stringfellow was an authorized site for hazardous waste disposal until 1972 when operations were discontinues because contaminants were discovered to be leaking from the site.  In cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of California Department of Health Services, SAWPA constructed a series of wells and a sophisticated treatment plant to remove heavy metals and organic pollutants that were threatening local groundwater supplies.  The treated water is piped to, and disposed of in the SARI line after being sampled and analyzed to assure that the treated water quality meets the restrictive permit levels for discharge into the SARI line system.  After constructing the system in the early 1990s and sampling water quality through the mid 1990's, SAWPA turned all operations over the the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).  Visit the EPA page for additional information on the Stringfellow Site.

Woodcrest Pipeline
Riverside, California

The Woodcrest pipeline was constructed to convey high quality State Project water from Northern California from the Mills Water Treatment Plant in eastern Riverside to agricultural interests in the Arlington Heights-Woodcrest area of Riverside.  Irrigators had previously been utilizing much saltier Colorado River water for crop watering which was adversely affecting groundwater in the region.  The line, 20 miles long, ranges from 60 inches in diameter at the Mills Plant to 42 inches at the downstream terminus near the I-15 freeway intersection with Cajalco Road south of the city of Corona.

Following project completion, the pipeline was turned over to the Western Municipal Water District for operation.

Chino Basin Desalting Program
Chino, California

Over one hundred years of irrigated agricultural use, combined with more recent dairy operations in the lower Chino Basin area, have caused groundwater to become brackish and high in nitrates.  SAWPA, in cooperation with a large number of water agencies, planned, designed, and constructed the first Desalter, which is part of an overall Basin desalting program. The construction of the Chino I Desalter system will begin the reversal of groundwater contamination through the removal of approximately 10,000 tons of salts annually.

The Chino I Desalter is the first phase of an estimated 30,000 acre feet per year total desalting effort planned for the lower Chino groundwater basin to be developed over the next 15 years.  Chino I Desalter construction began in September 1998 and was delivering water to area agencies in August 2000.  Ownership and operation of the Chino I Desalter was turned over to the Chino Basin Desalter Authority (CDA), a Joint Powers Authority made up of the water purchasers and the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, in February 2002.

The future expansion of the Chino groundwater desalting program is proceeding under the CDA in part with $48M in funds from the SCIWP (water bond) to increase the salt removal and cleanup of the basin. This expansion consists of a new desalter (Chino II) and an expansion of the existing Chino I Desalter. Click here to see SCIWP information on the Chino I Expansion/Chino II Desalters and related.

Chino I Desalter Details

The $53 M Chino Desalter produces approximately 8 million gallons per day (MGD) of potable water and has been operational since August 2000.  Facilities consist of 11 groundwater wells located within the southern portion of the Chino Groundwater Basin, in the City of Ontario, a central water treatment plant (WTP), and pipelines to deliver water from the wells to the WTP and from the WTP to the water retailers (Cities of Chino and Chino Hills, Jurupa Community Services District). The water treatment process removes Total Dissolved Solids (TDS, a measure of salt content) and consists of pre-treatment (particulate removal by cartridge system, chemical addition), a reverse osmosis (RO) process (pumps, pressure vessels, membranes) and RO process post treatment (carbon dioxide removal by decarbonator process), post treatment of the final blended water (chemical addition for corrosion control and disinfection), a final clearwell, and three separate pump stations to deliver the treated water. To save capital and operating costs, a portion of the raw water is treated and a portion is allowed to bypass the RO process. The resulting blend meets the CA Title 22 drinking water standards. Brine concentrate from the RO process is discharged to the Santa Ana Regional Interceptor (SARI); approximately 1.5 MGD is discharge when the WTP is operating at 8MGD. The eleven wells are all 16-inches in diameter, range in depth from 280 to 545 feet below ground surface, and produce from 300 to 1,200 gpm. Pump sizes range from 40 to 125 horsepower. The project required approximately two years to construct and start up.

Western Riverside County Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility
Norco, California

After many years of preliminary planning, a Joint Powers Authority was formed in 1992 to pursue the construction and operation of a new regional wastewater treatment facility on a site located just northwest of the City of Norco.  Members of the Western Riverside County Regional Wastewater Authority (WRCRWA) are:

• Western Municipal Water District

• City of Norco

• Home Gardens Sanitary District

• Jurupa Community Services District

• SAWPA

Through the cooperative efforts of all participants, engineering design for the collection and treatment facilities began in 1992 with construction beginning on the treatment plant in 1995.  The facilities, completed in 1998, include processes to provide tertiary treatment levels that meet or exceed all California Regional Water Quality Control Board standards for discharge of the reclaimed water to the Santa Ana River.

Initial capacity of this treatment facility is 8 MGD, expandable to 32 MGD.  SAWPA was designated as the administering authority on behalf of the Joint Powers Authority members during construction.  The facility is now in full operation and operated by the WRCRWA. For more information, click on the link to Western Municipal Water District.

Rapid Infiltration/Extraction (RIX) Wastewater Treatment Plant
Colton, California

The Cities of San Bernardino and Colton were required by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) to upgrade the quality of their wastewater discharges to the Santa Ana River to meet certain established discharge standards.  On cooperation with SAWPA, and with the approval of the RWQCB, a demonstration project was developed by the participants to evaluate the effectiveness of an experimental wastewater tertiary treatment process known as RIX.  A 2 MGD demonstration facility was constructed, operated, and evaluated for a one year period.

In this process, secondary treated wastewater from the two cities' treatment plants was applied to a percolation basin.  s the wastewater percolated through the soil, physical and biological treatment occurred removing many harmful pollutants from the wastewater.  After the water infiltrates approximately 15 feet deep, the treated wastewater was extracted trough shallow wells surrounding the basin and discharged to the Santa Ana River.

The results indicated that the RIX is a very effective and economical tertiary treatment process.  The pipelines and related facilities, along with the RIX site facilities, was placed into service in 1995.  The facilities are effectively operating to assist the cities.  Ownership and operation has transferred to the cities; click on the link for the City of San Bernardino Water Department for more information.

Temescal Valley Regional Interceptor (TVRI) Line
Western Riverside County, California

SAWPA completed construction of a Santa Ana Regional Interceptor (SARI) extension in 2002.  The TVRI line runs from the City of Corona to near Lake Elsinore through the Temescal Canyon and conveys non-reclaimable wastewater from Eastern and Western Municipal Water District service areas to the main SARI line.  This 23 mile long pipeline conveys high total dissolved solids (TDS) water from the Menifee Desalter to the SARI line.

Unlike the other projects on this list, the TVRI line was not turned over to other agencies for operation; this separate project was integrated with the SARI Line as the new Reach V.  See the discussions of the SARI line for more information.

Copyright: Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, 2002
Last modified 07/23/2004