Alvarado Water Treatment Plant
New flocculation and sedimentation basins unveiled at the plant on March 8, 2007, as part of Phase II of the project.
Project Description
The City of San Diego Public Utilities Department's Alvarado Water Treatment Plant (WTP) began operation in January 1951. Located adjacent to Lake Murray near the City's border with La Mesa, the Alvarado WTP has served as the "heart" of the City's drinking water system for more than fifty years. Plant capacity which was 120 million gallons per day (mgd) will be increased to 200 mgd with the completion of the Upgrade and Expansion Project.
Construction of the Alvarado expansion project began in September 1994. This initial work occurred prior to the existing Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and included replacing one of the two original Alvarado reservoirs with two 21 million gallon reservoirs. This work was completed in early 1998. Under the umbrella of the CIP, the Expansion and Improvement Project began in 1998, and has resulted in constructing eight new filters, new flocculation and sedimentation basins, implementing ozone as primary disinfectant, upgrading the Lake Murray and College Ranch pump stations and remodeling the existing Operations building. These improvements have been, or are being, implemented through a course of six phases.
Construction Start: Winter 1998
Construction Complete:Winter 2010
Project Benefits
- Increased capacity from 120 to 200 million gallons per day and improved reliability to meet current and future water needs.
- Meet or exceed new water quality regulations
- State-of-the-art facility will have useful life of 75 years
Project Need
Upgrades have become necessary for the following reasons:
- Current growth and anticipated population increases within the service area have created water demands that exceed the daily water treatment capacity.
- The plant facilities, structures and operating equipment are approaching the end of their life span and need to be upgraded or replaced to ensure reliability and water quality.
- Recent changes in federal and state drinking water regulations require that the plant be upgraded to meet the new regulations.
- The California Department of Public Health issued a Compliance Order listing what the City of San Diego needed to do to be in compliance with the new EPA regulations now and in the future. California Department of Public Health Compliance Order No. 04-14-96-002 issued in 1997 (PDF: 8.95Mb).The upgrades at the Alvarado Water Treatment Plant will ensure that the plant meets these EPA regulations.
- San Diego must comply with new Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Act stricter water quality standards as well as State of California water quality standards.
Contact Us
If you are interested in learning more about this project, please e-mail us at
engineering@sandiego.gov.
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