New water treatment plant to provide second water source for south Orange County

Hoping to create another water source in south Orange County, five water districts have partnered to fund and build a $107 million treatment plant that will provide drinking water for most of the region beginning next year.

The Baker Water Treatment Plant, on Biscayne Bay Drive in Lake Forest, is expected to begin operating in January. The five-acre plant will provide an estimated 28.1 million gallons of drinking water per day to about 63,300 homes, Irvine Ranch Water District officials said.

Aside from the Irvine Ranch district, the partners are the Moulton Niguel, Santa Margarita, Trabuco Canyon and El Toro water districts, which came together to formulate ideas on providing a second water source for South Orange County, which relies totally on imported water.

“It was absolutely critical,” said Joone Lopez, general manager for the Moulton Niguel district. “Not one of us could have done this alone. We’re sharing not only the funding, but the resources to find a solution to enhance reliability in south Orange County.”

That water will be imported by the Metropolitan Water District. In times of emergency, when that imported supply might be cut off, the Baker plant will treat water directly from Irvine Lake.

Currently, the region relies on water from the Diemer Water Treatment Plant in Yorba Linda, which is operated by MWD. But officials were concerned because it was the sole source of water for south Orange County.

“Damaged pipes are easy to fix, but a large plant on a hill with pumps, that could be out of commission for three to six months,” said Paul Cook, general manager with the Irvine Ranch district. “Two treatment plants would give South Orange County an additional option.”

Some parts of north Orange County also use imported water from MWD and others in north and central Orange County rely on groundwater operations through the Orange County Water District.

Moulton Niguel Water District officials said the region will still rely on the Diemer plant, but the Baker plant will provide additional resources.

In planning since 2006, construction for the Baker Water Treatment project began in 2014 and is now going through final checks before being put online.

The plant will draw water from two sources, Lake Matthews in the Temescal Mountains through MWD, and Irvine Lake. The latter provides untreated water from a local supply during emergencies or extended facility shutdowns.

The plant is being built at the site of a shuttered facility on Irvine Ranch district property, along Wisteria, a half-mile from Tamarisk Park.

Los Alisos Water District built the Wisteria plant in the early 1970s but operated it for only a few years before regulation changes made the facility obsolete, Cook said. The district decided it wouldn’t be cost effective to overhaul the operation to meet the new requirements, so it closed the plant in the late 1970s, Cook said. Irvine Ranch absorbed the Los Alisos district in 2001.

The site includes six buildings, including three pump stations, a treatment building, a chemical building, storage and administration buildings.

At the plant, untreated water will go through advanced microfiltration treatment through membrane filtration technologies before ultraviolet disinfection treatment. The result is clean water that meets stricter standards than current regulatory requirements, officials said.

“Any pathogens will be eliminated because it interrupts the reproductive cycle,” Cook said of the ultraviolet disinfection treatment.

But Dave Alexander, who lives near the plant, said he worries about accidents that could endanger residents in surrounding homes. He also said the pump stations are noisy, though they are in enclosed buildings.

“It’s a chemical facility, they’re going to store thousands of gallons of caustic chemicals,” Alexander, 49, said. “There could be an explosion if they mix chemicals.”

But Cook said the only chemical to be used for disinfection on site would be sodium hypochlorite, a liquid form of chlorine, and that the ultraviolet treatment replaces the need for other chemicals.

Cook said the plant is set up with spill containment areas to prevent any potentially hazardous chemicals from leaving the site.

“We’re always looking out 10 years in advance to try to stay one step ahead of the game,” Cook said. “We want to make sure our employees and neighbors are safe.”

FROM: https://www.ocregister.com/articles/water-736253-plant-district.html