Public Celebration and Open House Held for the Harbor Water Recycling Project; Multi-Agency Project Lauded for Saving Hundreds of Millions of Gallons of Water.

SAN PEDRO, Calif. -- Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD), City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) joined to celebrate and hold a public open house for the Harbor Water Recycling Project at the Terminal Island Treatment Plant (TITP) Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility (AWTF). This project saves hundreds of millions of gallons of potable water and is a combined effort of multiple agencies, water industry experts, and environmental leaders.

"The Harbor Water Recycling Project is a prime example of how Southern California can use high-quality treated water to meet many of our region's water needs," commented LADWP Board President Mary D. Nichols. "It decreases the City's dependence on imported water and at the same time helps reduce the amount of wastewater discharged into the bay."

The Terminal Island Treatment Plant Harbor Water Recycling Project provides advanced treated recycled water and will replace 50 percent of the imported water to the Dominguez Gap Seawater Barrier. This facility supplies treated water to protect the drinking water for the region and to protect the West Basin groundwater area from seawater contamination. Using recycled water for the Dominguez Gap Barrier saves approximately 2.5 million gallons per day of potable water -- enough potable water to serve more than 16,000 people per day.

"The Harbor Water Recycling Project is an essential part of what the Water Replenishment District calls the Water Independence Network (WIN) Program," noted WRD Director Rob Katherman. "Our objective under the WIN Program is to eliminate the use of imported water for replenishment and virtually eliminate its use for barrier injection by 2015."

Also speaking at the event were State Water Resources Control Board Vice Chair Gerald Secundy, City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation Executive Director Rita Robinson, and Heal the Bay Executive Director Mark Gold. Former Executive Director of Policy for the Mono Lake Committee Frances Spivy-Weber served as emcee for the program.

The celebration was attended by members of the public, as well as by environmental community members, water and government officials, industry experts, and agency representatives. Following the program of speakers, event attendees were invited to tour the facility to learn more about the state-of-the-art microfiltration and reverse osmosis processes for treating recycled water for the Harbor Water Recycling Project.