“LADWP is working to expand the existing recycled water infrastructure in the San Fernando Valley so we can serve new irrigation and industrial customers  and save hundreds of acre feet a year in drinking water,” said Jim McDaniel, Senior Assistant General Manager, LADWP Water System.

The First Foursquare Church of Van Nuys, whose property includes two campuses on Sherman Way, will utilize 3.6 million gallons to irrigate its 2-acre sports field.  The St. Elisabeth Catholic Church will utilize 2.3 million gallons to irrigate its property.  LADWP’s own electrical Distribution Station 60 will utilize 653,400 gallons, the first LADWP facility in the Valley to take recycled water for strictly irrigation purposes.  Together, these customers will replace enough drinking water to supply 40 households for a year.

All three customers are located in the Van Nuys area of the San Fernando Valley.  LADWP owns and operates 14.9 miles of existing and newly-installed recycled water lines that run primarily from the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys to the Hansen Tank at the Valley Generating Station in Sun Valley.

To help pay for these and additional new recycled water pipes, the Department was successful in securing an agreement with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to expand recycled water distribution in the Van Nuys area with the construction of 10,000 feet of pipes connecting the existing 16-inch water recycling pipeline along Kester Avenue and Sherman Way to supply recycled water to customers. The agreement provides LADWP with $937,500 in grant funding with the expectation that the project deliver its full capacity of 49 million gallons in 25 years.

The LADWP has successfully begun delivering recycled water from the Donald C. Tillman Reclamation Plant to: irrigate Woodley, Encino and Balboa golf courses, and the Balboa Sports Complex; to provide recycled water for the cooling towers of Valley Generating Station power plant in Sun Valley; and to provide water for the Los Angeles River, the Japanese Garden, Lake Balboa and the Wildlife Lake in the Sepulveda Basin. Together, recycled water to these facilities totals 1,400 AFY, or over 456 million gallons.

The LADWP partners with the Department of Public Works Bureau of Sanitation to reclaim wastewater for beneficial reuse that is approved and monitored by the California Department of Public Health. It is delivered in a dedicated “purple pipe” system that is separate from the City’s drinking water and sewer systems.

The LADWP Water System currently contains approximately 45 miles of recycled water pipeline, along with 2 storage tanks and 3 pump stations.  The pipeline system is capable of conveying 2.6 billion gallons to the Department’s 125 recycled water customers.  Going forward, LADWP plans to install 20 more miles of new pipeline in the next 5 years and deliver 16.3 billion gallons of recycled water by 2028 – enough to offset water demand for about 100,000 households.

Recycled water amounts to roughly 2% of the City’s total water supply at present.  The Department goal is to increase recycled water levels to equal 6% of the City’s water supply.  LADWP has invested $200 million in the recycled water program to date.