Investing In Our Water Infrastructure

 

Strengthening Reliability

  • Replacing five miles of aging pipeline each year. We carefully assess the health and functionality of pipelines connected to facilities that provide vital services to our community, such as hospitals, schools and public spaces.
  • Upgrading and modernizing the water distribution and storage system to ensure groundwater is pumped and delivered through our pipelines to your tap with reliability.
  • Drilling two new wells.
  • Upgrading the division’s supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA), a $3 million project.

The City’s water infrastructure serves all of Santa Ana’s residents and businesses over its 27.2 square mile service area. Our existing infrastructure includes 21 ground water wells, 7 import water connections, 7 pump stations, 10 reservoirs, and 480 miles of transmission and distribution pipelines. 

Our Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects exemplify our stewardship of our infrastructure. Through these projects, we are building resilience in our water supply by constructing new wells, adding on-demand generators to critical wells to maintain water supply even during power outages, and systematically rehabilitating our existing wells, reservoirs, pump stations and water distribution system to keep the City’s infrastructure operating efficiently and increase our capacity to meet future demand.

We are also installing new Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), which will allow the City personnel and customers access to real-time water consumption data. 

State-Of-The-Art Walnut Pumping Station

The completion of the Walnut Pumping Station last year marked the most significant rehab  project in the city’s water infrastructure. It is now a new state-of-the-art facility certified for its water and energy efficiency and awarded  a silver rating by Envision, a third-party rating system used to evaluate and rate the community, environmental and economic benefits of  construction projects. It will improve the reliability of the Santa Ana’s water system and help ensure the City can handle emergencies such as fires.

 

 

Recycled Water Master Plan

Our current recycled water system is owned and operated by the Orange County Water District (OCWD). Known as the Green Acres Project (GAP), it is limited in its scope and only serves a small portion of the city. The City of Santa Ana has introduced a new Recycled Water Master Plan to expand the infrastructure of our current system to bring recycled water deeper into the city. The benefits of building and operating our own recycled water system are many:

  • It will provide the City a water supply that is not subject to water use restrictions typically mandated by the state during times of drought, an inevitable reality we face in the future.
  • It will reduce our reliance on higher cost imported water, which is currently at twenty-four percent of the thirty million gallons we deliver each day.
  • It reduces demand on our groundwater basin and preserves this potable water supply for other uses.
  • It allows the City to maintain green medians, parks and sports fields for the community.
  • There is no fiscal or environmental impact associated with the master plan.

The new Recycled Water Master Plan creates a blueprint for a sustainable future, positioning Santa Ana as a greener, more environmentally responsible city.