PERC Water Corp.’s water recycling facility in Santa Paula, Calif., is estimated to save the city up to 15% in wastewater treatment power consumption costs.
This facility is the first of its kind to be built under California’s new government code Section 5956 that encourages private investment to solve public infrastructure needs. Construction of the facility began in July 2008 and will commence operation before Dec. 15, 2010. It will serve the city’s population of approximately 30,000 people.
“In this environment of rising energy costs, we understand the pressures cities face in reducing power consumption while continuing to maintain the quality and efficiency of all public infrastructure projects,” said Juergen Nick, PERC Water’s vice president of design and engineering. “The water recycling technology we are employing in the Santa Paula Facility sets the industry bar as it helps to control and minimize operational energy costs while delivering the smallest environmental footprint possible.”
Highlights of the Santa Paula Water Recycling Facility’s energy-efficient features include:
• Innovative lighting design. Energy savings from a combination of natural lighting, LED lamps, mercury vapor exterior lights, electronic ballast for fluorescent lamps, light sensors and automatic dimming devices will exceed the State of California’s Title 24 energy-efficiency requirements.
• Energy-efficient membrane scouring and aeration system. As membrane scouring and aeration account for nearly half of the facility’s power consumption, PERC Water chose to employ the most energy-efficient air production and usage systems on the market. The facility’s turbine blowers use precision technology to control, monitor and specifically adjust the airflow for aeration over a wide range of operations. The UV disinfection system uses amalgam lamps to generate UV light.
• Smart controlling system. The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system has the ability to gather, display, track and store live data generated by the facility. It is designed to consistently update operators on the exact status and measurements of all of the facility’s processes such as air flow, water flow and tank capacity. The SCADA system is also equipped to notify operators of abnormal conditions.
Southern California Edison (SCE) encourages its clients to participate in Savings by Design, a program that promotes high-performance building design and construction. As a result of the energy-saving measures PERC Water has incorporated, SCE will be issuing them a grant towards offsetting incurred higher equipment costs for achieving the program’s goals.
Santa Paula Water, LLC, a company formed by PERC Water Corp. and Alinda Capital Partners, was awarded a 30-year concession with the City in May 2008. PERC Water is under contract with Santa Paula Water, LLC, to design, build and operate the new 4.2-million-gal-per-day water recycling plant, replacing the city’s existing wastewater treatment facility, built in 1939.
In April of this year, PERC Water and Alinda Capital were presented with the Global Water Intelligence (GWI) Global Water Awards’ 2009 Water Deal of the Year Award of Distinction for the Santa Paula Water Recycling Facility. The Water Deal of the Year award recognizes deals that have made the biggest contribution to the advancement of public-private partnerships in the international water sector in 2008.
