Advanced Hyperion water purification facility
Del Rey, California
Merit Award
Presented by Walsh Group
owner Sanitation and Environment of Los Angeles
Leading design company Brown and Caldwell
General Contractor Walsh Construction Co.
As part of a proof-of-concept toward the City of Los Angeles’ ambitious goal of recycling 100 percent of its wastewater, this large-scale, 1.5-million-gallon-per-day facility is now one of the largest water reclamation plants in the country.
To help create a new, sustainable water supply for Los Angeles and fully reuse all water at Hyperion, the plant treats primary effluent to provide high-quality nitrified-denitrified recycled water for various uses at Los Angeles International Airport, including cooling tower make-up water, toilet flushing and other non-potable uses.
Multiple advanced treatment processes are used at Hyperion, including membrane bioreactors, reverse osmosis and advanced ultraviolet oxidation.
As Los Angeles Sanitation & Environment’s first progressive design-build project, collaborative delivery allowed the team to address many project complexities, including multiple layers of stakeholder interests, regulations for non-potable reuse, a tight schedule, and the owner’s desire to be heavily involved during the design, preconstruction, construction, and performance validation phases.
Shortly after the project started, the project team learned that they had 30% less space than planned. To accommodate the treatment process, the new configuration places equipment and provides access to three structurally configured elevated decks, while placing fine screens directly above the BNR basins, saving space and reducing tributary pumping infrastructure.
