Miramar Water Treatment Plant Upgrade and Expansion
Project
Project Description
The City of San Diego Water Department's Miramar Water Treatment Plant (WTP) began operation in 1962. The treatment plant is the sole provider of drinking water to an estimated 500,000 customers in the northern section of the City. The plant is located in the Scripps Miramar Ranch community on the shore of Miramar Reservoir, which is also a popular recreation site. Currently the plant produces 140 million gallons of drinking water a day (mgd). Water sources for the treatment plant are imported water from northern California and the Colorado River brought into San Diego by the San Diego County Water Authority and local rainfall captured in the reservoir.
The upgrade and expansion project began in summer 1998 with construction starting in May 2001 with the Early Start Improvements Phase I. The project is expected to be completed in 2010. The Miramar Water Treatment Plant Upgrade and Expansion Project includes a new rapid mix facility, installing new de-aeration basins, disinfection facilities, new chemical facilities, new and refurbished administration facilities, flocculation and sedimentation basins, washwater recovery system and water filters.
Project Begins (Design Phase): Summer 1998
Construction Begins: April 2001
Construction Complete: July 2011
Project Benefits
- Water treatment capacity will increase from 140 to 215 million gallons per day.
- The project increases water delivery reliability to meet current and future water needs.
- The upgrades will meet or exceed new, stricter federal and state drinking water standards.
- The upgraded facility will have an average lifespan of 75 years and will incorporate state-of-the art technology.
Project Need
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Health Services Compliance Order No. 04-14-96-002 issued in 1997 (PDF: 8.95Mb) The upgrades at the Miramar Plant will ensure that the plant meets these EPA regulations.
Community Outreach
Community outreach is a priority of the Water Department. The department wants to make sure that residents and businesses located around water department facilities know the details about capital construction projects – the purpose, objective and schedule. In addition, the department wishes to outreach to San Diegans who could be impacted by a construction project, but may not live in the immediate vicinity.
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