City of San Diego Selects Program Manager for Pure Water Project

Brown and Caldwell announced that the city of San Diego has selected the MWH/Brown and Caldwell team to manage and assist in the delivery of Pure Water San Diego. Brown and Caldwell has joined prime consultant MWH Global and local process engineering and water quality firm Trussell Technologies for the initial five-year, $30 million contract that includes program management services to move the program from planning into implementation.

Pure Water San Diego is a $2.7 billion program to provide a safe, reliable and cost-effective drinking water supply for San Diego. Using technology to purify recycled water, the program will make San Diego more water-independent and resilient against drought, climate change and natural disasters.

“Pure Water San Diego is needed to secure a long-term, reliable water supply for the city,” said Halla Razak, City of San Diego Public Utilities Department director. “We look forward to working closely with the team on the implementation of this very critical program.”

As part of the contract, which began in January 2015, the MWH/Brown and Caldwell team will provide strategic planning, project delivery, program controls, predesign of conveyance and treatment facilities, design oversight/management, pilot testing of proposed technologies, regulatory permitting, outreach and public education, quality management and risk mitigation services.

The program includes an initial 15-million-gal per day (mgd) water purification facility, which is planned to be in operation by 2023. The program has a long-term goal of producing 83 mgd of purified water, one third of San Diego’s future drinking water supply, by 2035. In addition, Pure Water San Diego will also greatly reduce the volume of treated wastewater discharged to the ocean.

“In any place where there is water scarcity, especially in the Southwest, our clients are thinking of water in new ways—aiming to manage all water as one integrated resource,” said Jay Patil, director of client services at Brown and Caldwell. “With San Diego now leading the way in large-scale, state-of-the-art potable reuse implementation, many other communities will begin to look at their water supplies differently. We are very excited to be a part of this innovative movement, and we are thrilled for the San Diego community.”

Source: Brown and Caldwell