Jacobs started construction Monday on the $740 million Los Angeles Groundwater Replenishment Project in the San Fernando Valley, an L.A. Department of Water and Power spokesperson said in an email.
The Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant will provide a drought-resistant water source as climate change increasingly threatens L.A.’s current supply. Once complete, the Tillman facility will purify 25 million gallons of wastewater daily to replenish the drought-stressed San Fernando Basin and its aquifers.
LADWP is spearheading the L.A. Groundwater Replenishment Project in partnership with L.A. Sanitation & Environment, with the ultimate goal of recycling all its wastewater and expanding local water sources to 70% of the city’s total supply by 2035. In recent years, the city has been importing about 90% of its water, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Dallas-based Jacobs won the design-build job to build the $500 million advanced water purification facility last year, and announced on Nov. 12 it was also picked to construct the advanced water equalization basins. Omaha, Nebraska-headquartered Kiewit is its lead contracting partner, per Jacobs’ release.
Managing water resources is a key focus for California communities and for Jacobs, Greg Fischer, vice president of design-build, operations management and facilities services, said in the release. Jacobs leaders have highlighted water as a booming sector in recent earnings calls.
“Our work with LASAN and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on the Groundwater Replenishment Project will help to provide a sustainable and resilient local drinking water supply for Angelinos,” Fischer said.
For decades, Los Angeles has used recycled wastewater for outdoor irrigation such as golf courses and parks, according to the Los Angeles Times. With the new Tillman facility, the city will use purified recycled water for its drinking supply for the first time.
The project has been in the making for three decades, but bad publicity around reusing wastewater derailed the effort in 2000. The city Board of Water and Power Commissioners approved the work in October, per the Los Angeles Times.
The wastewater treatment process at Tillman includes membrane filtration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet advanced oxidation, according to the project website. That water will be piped to L.A. County’s Hansen Spreading Grounds, where it will filter into the groundwater aquifer. LADWP will later pump the water out, do additional testing and treatment, then pipe it into taps.
The project received $81 million in funding through the federal Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program.
Completion is slated for December 2027, per the project website, with the facility operational by the summer of 2028. The city is also planning billions worth of additional water treatment efforts through its Pure Water Los Angeles initiative.
