City Special Projects Director Cliff Finley said Limoneira Company wishes to be the first to utilize highly treated recycled water for agriculture, but up until now “there hasn’t been an incentive in Ventura County to use recycled water.... There are lots of options in the future” for the use of recycled water.Because the facility is the first Design/Build/Operate/Finance project in the state, Boyd said the completed facility would be a “model project” for both PERC and the city. Among the questions from those on the tour was one concerning the city’s option to purchase the plant, and Boyd said the city could do so at facility completion or would own the facility outright at the end of the 30-year financing package.Gonzales urged that PERC be considered to construct Corporation Yard. So far, 7,000 yards of concrete and 1.5 million yards of steel have been placed at the project, which must be finished by September 2010 and fully operational per the state permit in December 2010.
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(Above left) So far, 7,000 yards of concrete and 1.5 million yards of steel have been placed at the project, which must be finished by September 2010 and fully operational per the state permit in December 2010. (Right) Nate Owen, Director of Construction for PERC, discusses the new Water Recycling Plant with city council members and visitors prior to the tour of the actual construction site. (Photos by Debbie Johnson) |
City Council, public tour water recycling plant
February 06, 2009
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesA handful of City Councilmen, city employees and curious public took a tour of the city’s under construction water recycling plant last week. The January 29 tour was hosted by PERC, which is building the approximately $58 million plant to replace the city’s aging facility located just northwest of the new plant.Mayor Ralph Fernandez and Councilmen Dr. Gabino Aguirre, Bob Gonzales and Fred Robinson were on the tour that featured a rendering of the finished facility, which will feature a conference/community room in the smaller more efficient footprint. Vice Mayor Jim Tovias toured the construction site a day earlier.The construction of the massive concrete tank system is located under what will be the plant office building, what Greg Boyd of PERC said is a “critical component.... The existing plant is eight acres,” and handles a daily 2.5 million gallons of wastewater, but the new plant will be about two acres handling 4.2 MGD. With less land utilized and the aesthetics of the new building, “We’ll wind up with a country club.”Visitors also visited the 15 acres of percolation ponds, where, noted Boyd, if it is found the water can be treated to a level suitable for agricultural use, the land would be returned to the city for alternative use. The nine acres already saved by the innovative smaller footprint can now be used for the city’s new Corporation Yard. An upcoming change order will focus on bringing plant access at the extreme east end of the site in the Peck/Todd Road area.
