Groundwater Replenishment System Celebrates 5 Years in Operation

On Jan. 10, the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) celebrated its fifth anniversary of recycling water in Orange County, Calif.. Last month, the GWRS reached 100 billion gal of ultra-pure water produced since going on-line Jan. 10, 2008. The Orange County Water District (OCWD) operates the GWRS and manages Orange County’s groundwater basin.

The GWRS facility has garnered more than 21 awards including the prestigious 2009 American Society of Civil Eng. (ASCE) Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award for the year’s most outstanding national engineering project, and the 2008 Stockholm Industry Water Award for the year’s most outstanding international water project.

In January 2012, OCWD broke ground on the 30 million gal per day GWRS Initial Expansion. The $142.7 million project will create an additional 31,000 acre-ft per year (AFY) of new water supplies to serve north and central Orange County bringing the total production of the GWRS to 103,000 AFY, enough water for 850,000 people. Construction is estimated to be completed in early 2015.

Source: Orange County Water District