Future of water on display for San Diego’s Water Purification Demonstration Project

Today’s guest post comes from Marsi Steirer, Water Purification Demonstration Project Director at the City of San Diego, Public Utilities Department.

In summer 2011, the City of San Diego opened its doors to a facility that is testing whether it can provide a new, local source of water for San Diego. Located in northern San Diego, the Advanced Water Purification (AWP) Facility is a small-scale, state-of-the-art facility that purifies one million gallons of recycled water every day to a level similar to distilled water quality. Since opening, hundreds of people from all over the world have toured the AWP Facility which is one component of the City’s Water Purification Demonstration Project that is examining the safety and cost of purifying recycled water. If this project is approved to go full-scale, the purified water would blend with imported supplies at San Vicente Reservoir and become part of the City’s drinking water supply. Throughout this entire test phase, purified water is not sent to San Vicente Reservoir or the City’s drinking water system; instead, it is added to the City’s existing recycled water system.

San Diego is examining water purification as a means to develop a locally controlled, supplemental water supply. San Diego’s semi-arid region is at the end of pipelines that bring imported water from hundreds of miles away. The City needs to develop local, reliable water sources to lessen its dependence on expensive and limited imported water supplies.
 
“Our City has been both creative and aggressive in trying to diversify our water supply. The less we rely on importing water from outside San Diego County, the more we control our own destiny,” San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said. “A locally produced supply of water could be an important option for us.”

All wastewater in San Diego undergoes treatment to remove harmful contaminants, making it safe enough to be discharged into the ocean.  Some wastewater is diverted to the City’s recycled water facilities, where it is further treated and then used for irrigation and industrial purposes. A portion of the recycled water produced at the North City Water Reclamation Plant is sent to the AWP Facility.

To become purified water, the recycled water undergoes a multi-barrier purification process, which removes or destroys all unwanted materials in the water and produces one of the purest supplies of water available anywhere.  The process also includes continuous water quality monitoring where the City thoroughly examines the safety of the water through laboratory tests and computer analysis to ensure that it meets drinking water quality standards.

The results of the project’s data collection will determine the safety and cost of a full-scale water purification and reservoir augmentation project. After the test phase is complete, the Mayor and City Council will decide on implementing a full-scale project.

“This Demonstration Project will provide the answers San Diego needs before taking the next step with purified water,” said Mayor Sanders. “We owe it to our citizens to see if we can come up with an alternative source of local, safe and relatively inexpensive drinking water.”

The same water purification process is already used around the world from Singapore to Belgium to Australia. Just north of San Diego, Orange County operates the world’s largest water purification plant. The Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System produces up to 70 million gallons a day of ultra clean water for nearly 600,000 residents and for many businesses and attractions, including Disneyland. The purified water is injected into the county’s drinking water aquifer. This facility is being expanded to produce an additional 30 million gallons a day.

Visitors are encouraged to tour the City of San Diego’s AWP Facility to gain a better understanding of the Demonstration Project and what role the AWP Facility plays in the testing phase. At the end of the tour, guests view the purified water produced at the facility and have a chance to visually compare it to drinking water and recycled water samples.

Click here to register online for a tour or view a virtual tour of the AWP Facility online at www.purewatersd.org. To request a Demonstration Project presentation for an organization, email purewatersd@sandiego.gov or call (619) 533-6638.

For more information about the City of San Diego’s Water Purification Demonstration Project, visit www.purewatersd.org, email purewatersd@sandiego.gov, or call (619)533-7572.

Spring Cleaning: Know Before You Throw!

This week’s post comes from our intern Maddy, a student at USD. Maddy and her mother are preparing to clean our their garage and want to remind San Diegans to use our one stop recycling resource, WastefreeSD.org, when getting rid of stuff this spring!

It’s That Time of Year Again – Spring Cleaning!

As the rain clears up and we get back to the normal, sunny San Diego weather, I feel as if I have a new spring in my step – and rightfully so. Today, March 20th, marks the Spring Equinox and the beginning of the spring season. It’s time to wear floral dresses, read a great book in the backyard, soak up some desperately needed vitamin D in the sun and unfortunately…clean out our garage.

I’m not sure who made spring-cleaning a necessary evil, but nevertheless, it’s a daunting task that we all feel a need to take on once the new season arrives. This year, we’re taking on the garage and I’m a bit fearful of what that might mean. Like many individuals, my garage is filled with junk from the past – obsolete electronics, bags of aluminum cans I haven’t had the energy to recycle yet, way too many gallons of old paint, an odd mix of cleaning supplies, a lawnmower from the early 1980s, my favorite Disney movies on VHS tapes and storage containers filled with arts and crafts supplies from when the kids were little.

As an environmentally conscious individual, I understand that many of these items aren’t just something I can throw away. I need to be responsible and find designated businesses and organizations that will take these things off of my hands, so I jumped on I Love A Clean San Diego’s recycling and disposal website, WasteFreeSD.org. Since I have more paint than I know what to do with, I thought I would start with that. I just plugged in my zip code, scrolled down to my specific community, found what type of waste I was looking to get rid of, and viola! WasteFreeSD.org told me exactly where to take my excess paint. Could it really be any easier? Now I don’t have any excuses holding me back from creating an organized and clean garage.

With the help of this resource, I’m positive that I can finish my spring-cleaning project within the next couple of weeks in an environmentally friendly manner. It’s important that we don’t just throw away toxic materials, like old paint or various containers of cleaning supplies, but that we dispose of them properly, so we do not endanger the health and safety of ourselves and the planet. So as you’re embarking upon your own big spring cleaning project, I encourage you to use ILACSD’s one stop recycling resource, WasteFreeSD.org.

You can visit WasteFreeSD online at www.WasteFreeSD.org call I Love A Clean San Diego’s bilingual hotline at 1-800-237-BLUE (for incorporated county residents) or 1-877-R-1-Earth (for unincorporated county residents).

The sooner you finish cleaning and recycling your old items, the sooner you can sip lemonade on the front patio with your favorite book and soak up the San Diego sunshine. Because like always, don’t we all love a clean San Diego?

Don’t Just Wear Green, Be Green This St. Patrick’s Day!

On the seventeenth of March, people from all around the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in a variety of ways. Although it first began as a religious holiday to honor Saint Patrick and the coming of Christianity in Ireland, it has evolved into a global secular celebration of Irish culture.

The hallmark of this celebration is to wear green, and if you don’t, you’ll inevitably be pinched. At I Love A Clean San Diego, we don’t just wear green once a year – we practice green everyday of every year and encourage others to do the same.

This St. Patrick’s Day, wear green, but be green too! Here are some easy tips to really show off your green pride.

If you’re wearing a costume:

• Don’t forget to recycle those plastic hats. Many of them are made from hard plastics – all of which can be recycled!
• Always strive for organic materials, like cotton
• Reuse your costume for next year, or donate it to a local thrift store

If you’re hosting a party:

• Instead of purchasing plastic decorations, use real greenery!
• For your table centerpieces, use potted plants, like the shamrock and add jasmine for a white contrast and sweet scent
• Use reusable silverware, plates and napkins
• To make paper decorations, use magazine and junk mail to cut into shamrock shapes and paint yourself (DIY is fun anyway!)
• Provide eco-friendly foods, such as organic veggies and fruits, and try to purchase locally

If you’re drinking:

• Opt for local beers – it cuts down on the environmental impact of shipping
• Avoid hazardous chemically-dyed green beverages
• Select a responsible driver and carpool. Better yet, use public transportation if you’re heading downtown!

As you’re celebrating this year, remember that you don’t only have to wear green: you can be green too.

Let the Rain do the Watering!

This week we are excited to have a guest post by Lana Findlay, former ILACSD staff member who now works with the City of San Diego’s Think Blue Program!

City Provides Rain Barrel Rebate to Promote Conservation and Prevent Pollution

Many of us enjoy green lawns, beautifully landscaped yards, and fresh produce from our backyard gardens.  Unfortunately, thriving lawns and gardens can take up a lot of water.  In fact, a typical San Diego household spends about 50% of its water use on landscape irrigation. 

In addition, when too much water is used to irrigate yards this excess water can travel over contaminated surfaces (sidewalks, gutters, parking lots) to enter our storm drains. Here in San Diego our storm drains connect directly to our creeks, rivers, bays and ocean.  This water does not get cleaned. 

A quick and easy way to both conserve water and reduce the amount of runoff entering our storm drain system is to capture rainwater from your roof using a rain barrel.  If you have always wanted to add a rain barrel to your yard, now is the time.  Rain barrel rebate incentives are now being provided by the City of San Diego’s Water Conservation Program and the Transportation & Storm Water Department.

The rebate is simple, Public Utilities customers who install rain barrels on their property can receive a $0.50 rebate for every gallon of storage capacity their rain barrel holds – up to $200! To qualify for a rebate, applicants need to take pre- and post- installation photos and submit them with a completed rebate application and their receipts for rain barrels purchased after January 1st, 2012. 

For more information about the rebate and to download an application, please visit: http://www.sandiego.gov/water/conservation/resrainwaterharvesting.shtml. 

About Rain Barrels

Rain barrels connect to a home’s rain gutter downspout and are designed to capture rain water flowing from the roof to help irrigate gardens and landscaping.  

When you supplement your irrigation water with water from your rain barrel, you:

• Conserve water – A 1000 ft2 roof collects 625 gal for every 1 inch of rain that falls 
• Save money – Rainwater is free!
• Save energy – Rain Barrels decrease your demand on the municipal water supply 
• Prevent pollution – Less water flows over contaminated surfaces to our waterways

Residential rain barrels can store from 50 gallons of rain water up to 400 gallons or more and come in many different shapes and designs.  A standard rain barrel system consists of a rain gutter and downspout, a storage container, a locking lid and screen grate (to keep out debris and insects), an overflow pipe, and an outlet faucet.   From the outlet faucet you can either collect your stored water using a watering can or connect it to a gravity-feed system of irrigation hoses that carry the water to your landscaping or garden. 

If you would like to speak with someone about the installation process or about rebate guidelines, please contact a Conservation Representative directly at (619) 533-4126 or via email at waterconservationrebates@sandiego.gov.  In addition, a Rainwater Harvesting Guide is also available on the rebate program’s website. 

Do your part to conserve water and prevent pollution – Install a rain barrel in your yard and let the rain do the watering! 
 
Questions?

Phone:   (619) 533-4126
Email:   waterconservationrebates@sandiego.gov.
Residential Rain Harvesting Website   
Rain Barrel Pilot Program Information

Volunteer Spotlight: Cynthia Mallett

This month we wanted to spotlight an amazing volunteer who has been dedicating her time to I Love A Clean San Diego for over 20 years. Cynthia Mallett began as an ILACSD intern, looking to gain experience in the environmental arena, back in 1990 while she was still in college. Cynthia says that, “volunteering for ILACSD gave me a good foundation of understanding different components of the solid waste arena and was the starting point of my environmental career.” Cynthia now works for the City of Oceanside Clean Water Program and for the past 5 years, has served as a Creek to Bay site captain, leading volunteers in cleaning up the areas around the Oceanside Pier. When asked why this site is important to her, Cynthia responded “I feel that it is very important to volunteer within the community that I live so that I feel like I am contributing to the improvement of my own community.”

With the 2012 Creek to Bay Cleanup just around the corner, we asked Cynthia what the strangest item she’s ever found at a cleanup was. She said that one year she found, “a plastic container in the shape of a tooth had a small human tooth inside.” You just never know what you’ll find at our cleanups!

All of us at ILACSD would like to thank Cynthia for her commitment to our organization and to cleaning up the environment here in San Diego!

Full Q & A with Cynthia Mallett  

What motivated you to volunteer with ILACSD?

When I was in college I was motivated to volunteer for ILACSD to get more experience in the environmental arena. I then secured an internship with the organization. Volunteering for ILACSD gave me a good foundation of understanding different components of the solid waste arena and was the starting point of my environmental career.

How long have you been volunteering with ILACSD?

I started volunteering for ILACSD in 1990 – 22 years ago.

How long have you been a site captain for Creek to Bay?

I have been a site captain for Creek to Bay for 5 years. I have been a captain at the Oceanside Pier site for over 20 years for either Creek to Bay or CA Coastal Cleanup Day. Since my employment at the City of Oceanside I also coordinate other cleanup sites throughout the year along Loma Alta Creek, Buena Vista Creek, and the San Luis Rey River. I recruit City staff and volunteers to assist at those sites while I am at the pier site.

Why is that site important to you?

I like to volunteer at the Oceanside pier site because this is the watershed in which I have lived for over 25 years – the San Luis Rey Watershed. I feel that it is very important to volunteer within the community that I live so that I feel like I am contributing to the improvement of my own community.

What is your favorite part of participating in the Creek to Bay cleanup?

I love to interact with the volunteers and share my experiences and expertise with them. I  also like to see the results of how much trash is removed from the waterways.

Why do you think cleanups like Creek to Bay are important to keeping San Diego healthy and clean?

Creek to Bay events are important to coordinate in order to keep our beaches and inland waterways healthy for humans and animals. They also:

• Provide a great opportunity for residents to participate in an event that improves their community
• Improve storm water awareness among individuals that may lead to improved water quality.
• Help foster a sense of responsibility in protecting water quality.

What is the strangest piece of trash you’ve found at a Creek to Bay Cleanup?

During one cleanup a plastic container in the shape of a tooth had a small human tooth inside. I am assuming that this was probably one of the first teeth lost by a young child who cherished it so much that they brought it to the beach. And then the child lost it there.