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Jacobs broke ground Monday on the $740 million Los Angeles Groundwater Replenishment Project in the San Fernando Valley, an LA Department of Water and Power project. the spokesman said in an email.
The Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant will provide a drought-resistant water source com climate change increasingly threatens those in Los Angeles current supply Once completed, the Tillman’s facility will be purified 25 million gallons of wastewater per day to replenish the drought-stressed San Fernando Basin and its aquifers.
LADWP is leading the LA Groundwater Replenishment Project in partnership with LA Sanitation & Environment, with the ultimate goal of recycling all of its wastewater and expanding local water sources to 70% of the total supply of the city by 2035. In recent years, the city has been important around 90% of its wateraccording to the Los Angeles Times.
Dallas-based Jacobs won the design-build job to build the $500 million advanced water purification facility last year, and it was announced on November 12 that he was also chosen build the advanced water equalization basins. Omaha, Neb.-based Kiewit is its primary contracting partner, according to Jacobs’ statement.
Water resource management is a key focus for California communities and for Jacobs, Greg Fischer, vice president of design, construction, operations management and facilities services, said in the release. Jacobs leaders have excelled water as a booming sector in recent earnings calls.
“Our work with LASAN and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on the groundwater replenishment project will help provide a sustainable and resilient local drinking water supply for Angelinos,” Fischer said.
For decades, Los Angeles has used recycled wastewater for outdoor irrigation, such as golf courses and parks, according to the Los Angeles Times. With Tillman’s new facility, the city will use purified recycled water for its drinking supply for the first time.
The project has been in the works for three decades, but bad publicity about wastewater reuse derailed the effort in 2000. The city’s Board of Water and Power Commissioners approved the work in in October, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The wastewater treatment process in Tillman it includes membrane filtration, reverse osmosis and advanced ultraviolet oxidation, according to the project’s website. This water will be piped to LA County’s Hansen Spreading Grounds, where it will seep into the groundwater aquifer. Later, LADWP will pump the water, do additional testing and treatment, and then pipe it to the faucets.
The project received $81 million in funding through the federal Water Infrastructure Innovation and Financing Program.
Completion is scheduled for December 2027, according to the project website, with the facility operational in the summer of 2028. The city is also planning billions in additional water treatment efforts through its Pure Water Los Angeles initiative.
