The Capital Improvement Program generates projects to meet water delivery demand for generations to come.
The day-to-day stewardship of delivering water to—and diverting wastewater from—Santa Ana’s 27.2 square-mile service area means anticipating new challenges, new technologies, and the changing needs of a growing residential and business community.
The Capital Improvement Program, or CIP, is where the pivotal projects required to meet these challenges are imagined, incubated and initiated. This evolving slate of long-term initiatives ensures that Santa Ana has the best service systems and water quality available today and in the future.
Three major CIP projects are currently in the works, with several more on line to begin within the next 18 months. Together they will add resilience to our water supply and wastewater treatment facilities while keeping the City’s infrastructure operating efficiently and increasing our capacity to meet future demand.
In the process, we will construct new wells and maintain our 21 groundwater wells, seven import water connections, seven pump stations, ten reservoirs and 480 miles of transmission and distribution pipelines.
On-demand generators will also be added to key wells, ensuring that our water supply is maintained even during power outages. And, 45,000 “smart meters” are being installed to allow customers and management access to real-time data that can help reduce rates and emergencies.
See related story on funding sources for CIP projects.
Projects in the Works
Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI)
Phase One of the five-year, $30 million Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) project is scheduled for completion by the end of July 2021, thanks to initial grants of $4 million from the state and $1.5 million from the federal government. This first phase includes a test-batch of 100 smart meters installed. We are now testing the software before shifting to extensive installation in August on the way to a year-end target of 1,500 smart meters installed. In January, the pace will quicken as we expect to install up to 10,000 annually until all 45,000 are in and operational.
The communications system already has four new antenna towers built, one on City Hall and three more at the West, East and South Water Pump Stations.
Transitioning to smart meters that communicate via radio or similar technology will allow us to provide ongoing technological upgrades as they are developed. These include automated meter reads, leak detection and usage notifications as well as interactive customer portals.
Accurately tracking water consumption is the key to efficient management and planning. In the long term, it will mean that we will have access to more granular information to better gauge the community’s water needs. Residents, too, will have their consumption data at their finger tips for more informed decisions about their own water usage.
Studies show that communities that upgraded to AMI systems reduce water usage by as much as 15 percent.
San Lorenzo Sewer Lift Station
Construction is underway on the San Lorenzo Sewer Lift Station. Already built are the large concrete underground tanks where wastewater will be held before it is pumped out and transferred via the Orange County Sanitation District’s Santa Ana Trunk sewer pipeline to the OCSD Treatment Plant. We are now adding the supporting pipelines and mechanicals. Project completion is slated for the end of 2021 or beginning of 2022.
Ongoing Infrastructure Replacement
Among our CIP projects are those directed at fulfilling items included within the Santa Ana Water District’s Master Plan. One example is the ongoing replacement of aging pipeline. Each year, we replace 5 miles of underground pipeline, oftentimes in conjunction with street improvements to minimize disruptions to residents and commuters while reducing overall construction costs.
Projects Coming in 2022
Two projects on tap to begin in are related to Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances, or PFAS, treatment and water well rehabilitation.
PFAS Treatment Projects
The City of Santa Ana Public Works Agency constantly monitors its well system for traces of PFAS. Testing conducted in early 2021 revealed a detection of PFAS in Wells 27, 28, 31, 38 and 40. A decision was made to take all five wells immediately off-line until proper water treatment methods are put in place.
PFAS levels in four of these wells exceeded a threshold set in our standing agreement with Orange County Water District (OCWD). As a result, the OCWD will fund whatever treatment or other remediation is required to bring those levels into the permitted range at these wells.
However, since the City of Santa Ana strives to provide water to our residents that is free of PFAS, even wells that do not meet the threshold for OCWD funding will be treated. Well 38 is one example. We placed it off line while we determine how much funding will be required for treatment and to get it operating again.
Fortunately, Santa Ana has created a “redundant” water system that can generate more than enough groundwater, so shutting down these wells has not impacted production. Also supporting our ability to meet the Santa Ana’s water needs is the community’s conservation efforts, which have reduced Santa Ana’s water consumption over the past two-plus decades to about 34 thousand acre-feet annually.
We hope to bring these wells back on line to meet the needs of our community, particularly in the Northeast Zone above Interstate 5, where all wells are offline and water is being solely supplied from imported sources from the Metropolitan Water District (MWD).
Water Well Rehab and Blending Project
The Morrison Park well, number 32, has now been offline for about a decade after testing showed unacceptable nitrate levels. An upcoming CIP project, Water Well Rehab And Blending, will breath life back into well 32.
As you might expect, it is more cost-effective to rehabilitate an existing well than to drill a new one. We will be bringing well 32 up to code and then build a pipeline to connect it to the Garthe Station, which is the largest pump and reservoir station in the City with four groundwater wells storing more than 15 million gallons of water in its tanks. At the Garthe Station, well 32 water will be treated through a blending treatment approach.