Yes. The law of supply and demand affects imported water prices. Available imported water for the District can drop to as low as 5% (or less) for normal supplies from the State Water Project. The District then must pay high on-the-spot market prices to make up the difference.
The water district has aggressive plans to conserve more water; however, conservation alone is not enough to meet our current future water needs. Purified water is a reliable and locally controlled water supply that meets and exceeds all California primary and secondary drinking water standards. Purified water not only helps protect the region’s groundwater supplies but, more importantly, it can help us ensure that we can sustain our thriving economy and way of life.
No. The Santa Clara Valley Water District imports 55% of its water from the Sierra snowpack. The rising cost of imported water, recurring drought, climate change and population growth means that the need for a local water supply is crucial to Santa Clara County’s future water needs.
This multi-barrier water purification process is currently already in operation at water districts in the state, nation, and globally. For example, Orange County Water District in Southern California is one of several water agencies in California that has implemented potable reuse programs. The Orange County project produces 100 MGD of purified water used to replenish groundwater basins there. Water purification is also used in Virginia, Texas, Colorado, Singapore, Australia and more.
The highly purified water is currently blended with the recycled water produced at the San Jose-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility, to enhance the quality and expand the usage of recycled water for irrigation and industrial purposes. In the future, the water district plans to augment our drinking water supplies by using purified water to replenish groundwater basins.
Some important benefits include creating a locally controlled, sustainable, and high-quality water supply and increasing water reliability because purified water is drought proof. Purified water also reduces dependency on water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and helps protect the region’s groundwater supplies and environment. Recycling is good for the environment. The more recycled water we use, the less we need to take out of rivers, streams and groundwater basins. All water on the planet is reused. There exists the same amount of water on the plant as there always has been. Water is too precious a resource to use only once!
The Santa Clara Valley Water District is the primary water resources management agency for Santa Clara County responsible for meeting the county’s water supply demands. To achieve this, the water district plans to produce up to 24,000 acre feet (AFY) per year of highly purified water for potable reuse by the year 2025. This amounts to 8 billion gallons a year of new fresh water that’s drought-proof — enough water to serve 74,000 households each year in Silicon Valley that we would not otherwise have.
The Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center (SVAWPC), which opened in March of 2014, receives secondary-treated wastewater and uses microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet light disinfection to produce highly purified water that meets all California Primary and Secondary Drinking Water Standards. The purified water produced by the SVAWPC is not currently used for potable (i.e., drinking) purposes, but instead is blended with tertiary-treated recycled water and used for a variety of non-potable purposes such as landscaping, agriculture and industry.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District has partnered with the cities of San José and Santa Clara to build the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center, a state-of-the-art facility to help meet Santa Clara County’s future water needs. The $72 million purification center in San José produces up to 8 million gallons of highly purified water per day, making it the largest advanced water purification plant in Northern California.
The Santa Clara Valley needs additional supplies to fill projected future water supply shortfalls. Highly purified recycled water is one new, locally developed and reliable water supply. Provided through proven technologies, it is a drought-proof water supply that can help ensure the valley has safe sustainable water now and into the future. By using water that would typically be released into the San Francisco Bay, we also benefit from local resource. Freshwater discharge to the Bay can also impact sensitive salt marsh habitat. Recycled water is a locally controlled source, unlike imported water.
Yes. Recycled water has been successfully used in Santa Clara County since the 1970s and currently comprises almost 5 percent of the county’s water supply mix. Tertiary-treated recycled water is used for a variety of non-drinking purposes such as landscaping, agriculture and industrial uses.