Oscar Lucas-Solís1

1Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam, Ingeniería en Ciencias del Agua.

Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS): Quenching the thirst of Orange County, CA, USA

Two thirds of the population of

Figure 1. Location of Orange County. Own elaboration.
California lives in the south, although they
present less than a third of the state
precipitation, indicating a water deficit in
account of the high demand. Orange County is
a semi-arid and sunny region located in
Southern California (USA), with an average
annual precipitation of 355 mm, which rains in
the tropical humid forest on average per
month. The main source of water for this
county in the past was the Santa Ana River,
however, due to the increase of the population
and its demand, it was necessary to resort to
the extraction of water from the aquifer, in
addition to the large and expensive imports of
water from other counties.

Between 1933 and 1940, the Orange County Water District (OCWD), which was in charge of
monitoring groundwater levels in the aquifer, initiated a program to replenish groundwater since natural
sources (precipitation, infiltration) were not sufficient. At the beginning, the water used to replenish the aquifer
was brought from the Santa Ana, Colorado and Sacramento-San Joaquín Delta rivers, which are sources
vulnerable to anthropogenic pollution and have a high sediment load because they are superficial water.

Replenishing water in this way (natural sources) was an energy-intensive and costly process, so the
OCWD in conjunction with the Sanitation District (OCSD) joined forces to develop an unprecedented solution
such as the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS). The GWRS resolved the needs of the OCWD
because it required an expansion of the water treatment plants, the obtaining of safe water sources and solving
the problems of saline intrusion to the aquifer by excessive extraction. On the other hand, the OCSD had the
need to build a second outlet to the ocean.

This solution required a joint investment of $ 481 million dollars for the construction of the first phase,
emerging as one of the most famous civil engineering and water reuse projects in the world. The first phase
materialized in 2008 and had a capacity of 265,000 m3/day, then in 2015 the OCWD invested $ 142 million in
an expansion to obtain 378,000 m3/day and the OCSD provided high quality secondary treatment at no cost.
Currently, there are about 850,000 residents benefited but according to population growth trends, a second
expansion is required to obtain a production of 492,000 m3/day by 2030.

The GWRS is the world's largest advanced water purification process for indirect potable reuse,
because it requires an environmental buffer prior to purification, in this case the aquifer. The system consists
in the fusion of a previous secondary treatment of the wastewater (pre-treatment) carried out by the OCSD,
before applying more advanced purification processes. The secondary effluent enters the GWRS or it can be
sent to the ocean, once inside the system microfiltration is carried out, continuing with reverse osmosis and
finally with an advanced oxidation process (AOP) that uses UV light and H2O2 hydrogen peroxide. The effluent
from the advanced system is eventually replenished in the aquifer or injected into the barrier that prevents
saline intrusion. Each of the steps will be described in greater detail below using Figure 2.

The OCSD is in charge of intercepting and treating the wastewater to be discharged to the ocean, but
it also pre-treats a part to enter the GWRS. The pre-treatment consists of a preliminary, primary and secondary
treatment. In the preliminary treatment, large solids are removed through the use of a grid and a sand trap, and
then the water is passed to the primary treatment that allows the organic solids, gravel and dirt to settle in a
clarifier. The secondary treatment is responsible for removing dissolved organic matter through the biological
 Oscar Lucas-Solís1
1Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam, Ingeniería en Ciencias del Agua.

activity of microorganisms (sludge process and trickling filter), then it is settled in another clarifier that
separates them from the water and that effluent is directed to the GWRS or poured into the ocean.

The microfiltration process uses bundles of hollow polypropylene fibers (0.2 micron pores) to remove
particulate contaminants from water. By creating a vacuum, water passes through minute pores, while
suspended solids, protozoa, bacteria and some large viruses are removed. In order to avoid plugging,
hypochlorite is used for complete chemical cleaning every 21 days and backwashing every 22 minutes. The
filtered water is pumped to the next step which is Reverse Osmosis.

Reverse osmosis uses pressurized tubular containers that have envelopes of semi-permeable polyamide
membranes inside. Pressurized microfiltered water enters at one end of each container and passes through the
membranes to the interior where the purified product is collected by a pipeline that transports it to the next
process by pumping. As a result, a water with high purity is obtained, to which minerals must be added to
buffer and stabilize it before being distributed. On the other hand, in the brine concentrate are unwanted
components as dissolved salts, organic chemicals, viruses and pharmaceuticals.

The final step is an advanced oxidation process (AOP) that uses high intensity ultraviolet light (UV),
the addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and a final treatment with lime. The first two processes are used to
disinfect water and destroy low molecular weight organic compounds that still remain dissolved in water even
in very low concentrations. These two processes serve to ensure that the unwanted organic chemical
components and biological materials are destroyed and removed efficiently. The final treatment with lime
(calcium hydroxide or hydrated lime powder) is carried out in a suspension mixing box, this mixture and
cationic polymers are added to the final water of the GWRS product to stabilize and buffer it, thus maintaining
the optimum pH (6 to 9) in the distribution system.

A part of the highly purified water is replenished to the basins of Kraemer, Miller and Miraloma at the
northeast of the city in order to infiltrate and percolate, recharging the aquifer. In addition, a smaller portion
of water imported from sources with a low sediment load is continued to be used so the surface of the aquifer
is not clogged. The other part of the purified water is injected into a barrier that prevents saline intrusion and
protects the quality of the groundwater. An extraction of groundwater from the aquifer is carried out for a
subsequent purification and distribution, once this water is used it becomes wastewater and a part of it re-enters
in the system, initiating the GWRS again.

The GWRS emerged as a solution to the high demand of a city with fewer and fewer sources of water
for purification. Thanks to its historical monitoring and its high investment in sanitation and purification works,
it developed this system of indirect reuse of low energy cost and infrastructure, with respect to other systems
such as desalination. Begin to consider wastewater as a new and pertinent resource is one of the challenges
that some places with water deficit are going through, including the Orange County that is leading the way
with the slogan “Quenching a thirst".

Figure 2. Orange County Groundwater replenishment system (GWRS). Own elaboration.