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A joint project of the Orange County Water District and Irvine Ranch Water District, the Irvine Desalter Project (IDP) was developed to increase utilization of the Irvine Subbasin through recovery and treatment of VOC-impaired, poor-quality groundwater. After extensive study and public comment, the IDP was formulated as two projects. The first project will clean up the contaminated VOCs with treated water used for non-potable purposes. Water extracted from inside the VOC plume will be treated using reverse osmosis (RO) and air stripping technologies to produce reclaimed water. The second project will treat and desalt water from wells located safely upgradient of the VOC plume for potable use. An RO demineralization process will be used to produce high quality potable water. To be constructed at the same location, each system will be hydraulically separated.

The scope of work currently completed by the Tetra Tech team includes:

• Pilot testing at three sites
• Drilling or rehabilitating and equipping eight source water wells
• 50,000 linear feet of raw water conveyance pipelines
• Potable and non-potable RO treatment facility for desalting and disinfection
• Potable and non-potable booster stations
• Brine disposal facilities

The work includes obtaining permits and approvals from various jurisdictional agencies, as well as Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) reporting to meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Navy approval requirements.

Highlight:
This project won the American Public Works Association (APWA) Project of the Year Award in the Water and Wastewater Category.