The Central Coast Blue Advanced Water Purification Demonstration Facility opened its doors on Tuesday, May 15, providing visitors the opportunity to learn how the Five Cities communities are creating drought-resistant water supplies; see world-class advanced water purification treatment technology in action; discover how piloting will minimise the use of chemicals and energy ahead of full-scale construction; and to drink the water.
The small-scale demo facility provides an opportunity to optimise and limit energy and chemical use, assess operations, and will inform the design and construction of the full-scale Central Coast Blue Advanced Water Purification Facility. The demo facility will be open to the public and will be in operation for approximately one year.
The demo facility was made possible through collaboration between the Cities of Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, the South San Luis Obispo County Sanitation District, and Oceano Community Services District, as well as a public-private partnership with IDE Technologies, a leader in water treatment innovation that specialises in increasing the value and performance of water systems across the world.
Construction of the Advanced Water Purification Facility is expected to begin in 2021, and will take a water resource that is currently piped into the ocean and treat it to create drinking water. The newly-recovered, highly-purified water will be injected into the Santa Maria Groundwater Basin to guard against future water shortages, seawater intrusion, and drought.
The Advanced Water Purification Facility will also increase municipal groundwater supplies by 30 per cent and reduce the amount of treated wastewater discharged into the ocean by 77 per cent. Moreover, it will provide water independence for these communities, enhance water supply and quality, provide drought resistance, and create an asset out of a resource that is currently unutilised.
