The Clovis Water Reuse Facility

In early 2009, the City of Clovis’ new, state-of-the-art Water Reuse Facility began producing up to 2.8 million gallons per day (MGD) of highly-treated recycled water. The water will be distributed through a network of purple pipes so that it can be used to irrigate green belts, median islands, parks, trails and paseos, State Route 168, and agricultural operations around the city.

The project is designed to allow multiple phases of future expansion. At its maximum capacity, the recycled water system will be able to produce and reuse up to 8.4 MGD of recycled water. By building out the Recycled Water Master Plan, the City will be better able to meet its projected water needs over the next 25-30 years while protecting our precious groundwater resource, reducing historic groundwater overdraft, and enhancing groundwater recharge.

The City of Clovis Water Reuse Facility is a key element of sustainable, environmentally-friendly water resource management for our community. City leaders hope Clovis’ recycled water program will provide a template for other communities that are grappling with issues of surface and/or groundwater shortages.

State-of-the-Art Technology

At its maximum capacity, the Clovis Water Reuse Facility will be able to produce over 3 billion gallons (or 9,400 acre-feet) per year of disinfected tertiary treated recycled water through a membrane bioreactor process. Three billion gallons of recycled water is equivalent to the total water used by 19,000 homes every year.

Membrane bioreactors are the latest, most advanced solution for recycled water treatment. They provide high-quality reuse water, exceeding the requirements of California’s stringent Title 22 regulations. The technology combines activated sludge treatment with membrane filtration.

The production of water of such high clarity, combined with the Ultra Violet (UV) technology, results in a lower cost to disinfect the water. The Cannibal process used reduces sludge production by 90% and eliminates the need for several treatment processes, thereby requiring less space than other treatment technologies to produce superior-quality recycled water.

In other words, this technology produces a higher-quality recycled water product compared to conventional systems and lowers costs by requiring less space for the plant and producing fewer solids that would otherwise require storage and disposal.

Public/Private Partnership

The Clovis Water Reuse Facility is the first tertiary treatment plant in California to be completed using a design-build-operate procurement method. While the City owns the Water Reuse Facility, a private engineering firm (CH2M Hill) designed and built the $40-million project and will operate the neighborhood-friendly facility through 2018.

This marks a significant step forward in terms of advancing the concept of public/private partnerships for advanced water reuse facilities in the state. It is also only the second municipal wastewater treatment plant in California’s Central Valley to receive a permit from the Regional Water Quality Control Board within the past 20 years, demonstrating the City of Clovis’ ability to partner with state regulatory agencies to gain consensus and approval on innovative treatment design.