From L to R: Frank Kim, Dale Jacobson, Debra Leigh, Kenneth Goodwin, Paul Boulos, Jerry Rogers, Kyle Schilling, S.K. Nanda, Dan Boyd, Michael Ports, Michael Markus
September 11, 2009 - AAWRE Board tours and drinks purified water from the 2009 ASCE- OCEA Award-Winning Project: Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System.
The AAWRE Board got a presentation and detailed tour of the award-winning Orange County Water District's (OCWD) Groundwater Replenishment System from Michael Markus, the OCWD's General Manager and his assistant, Becky Mudd.
OCWD's Groundwater Replenishment System swept most of the major awards in engineering and design for its innovative and technological advances the past 2 years. The Groundwater Replenishment System was the recipient of the 2009 ASCE Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water State Revolving Fund "PISCES" Award, the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Grand Conceptor Award and "Golden State" Award of Excellence, and the Stockholm 2008 Industry Water Award.
Mr. Markus provided an overview of the Orange County Water District's facilities and the process by which they operate their water district. After the presentation, the board trustees of AAWRE got a detailed tour of the facilities.
Each step of the water purification process was examined and given to the Trustees on hand.
Mr. Markus went over each of the steps in the process: Microfiltration (MF), Reverse Osmosis (RO), and Ultraviolet (UV) Light and Hydrogen Peroxide Treatment.
- To view the water purification process
The Orange County Water District (OCWD) was formed in 1933 by a special act of the California State Legislature to protect Orange County's rights to water in the Santa Ana River. OCWD's primary responsibility is managing the vast groundwater basin under northern and central Orange County that supplies water to more than 20 cities and water agencies, serving more than 2.3 million Orange County residents. Since 1933, OCWD has replenished and maintained the groundwater basin at safe levels while more than doubling the basin's annual yield. This important source of water provides local groundwater producers with a reliable supply of high-quality water.
OCWD primarily recharges the basin with water from the Santa Ana River and, to a lesser extent, with imported water purchased from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. OCWD currently holds rights to all Santa Ana River flows reaching Prado Dam. Water enters the groundwater basin via settling or percolation ponds in the cities of Anaheim and Orange. Behind Prado Dam (constructed and owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood prevention), OCWD owns 2,400 acres in Riverside County, which the District uses for water conservation, water quality improvement and environmental enhancement.
The Orange County Water District manages the large groundwater basin that underlies northern and central Orange County that provides most of the water for more than 2.3 million citizens. The District is committed to enhancing Orange County's groundwater quality and reliability in an environmentally friendly manner. OCWD is a special district, separate from the County of Orange, which supplies water to retailers in the cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Newport Beach, Orange, Placentia, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster and Yorba Linda. The Orange County Water District (OCWD) was formed in 1933 by a special act of the California State Legislature to protect Orange County's rights to water in the Santa Ana River. OCWD's primary responsibility is managing the vast groundwater basin under northern and central Orange County that supplies water to more than 20 cities and water agencies, serving more than 2.3 million Orange County residents. Since 1933, OCWD has replenished and maintained the groundwater basin at safe levels while more than doubling the basin's annual yield. This important source of water provides local groundwater producers with a reliable supply of high-quality water.
OCWD primarily recharges the basin with water from the Santa Ana River and, to a lesser extent, with imported water purchased from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. OCWD currently holds rights to all Santa Ana River flows reaching Prado Dam. Water enters the groundwater basin via settling or percolation ponds in the cities of Anaheim and Orange. Behind Prado Dam (constructed and owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood prevention), OCWD owns 2,400 acres in Riverside County, which the District uses for water conservation, water quality improvement and environmental enhancement.
The Orange County Water District has one of the finest state-certified water quality laboratories in the state, performing hundreds of thousands of analyses each year on thousands of water samples to ensure the safety of their water.
Producing purified, high quality water with the Groundwater Replenishment System requires 50 percent less energy than importing water to Orange County. Water produced from the Groundwater Replenishment System undergoes one of the world's most advanced, state-of-the-art, purification processes. Water is purified using a three-step process of microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide treatment techniques. The Groundwater Replenishment System is the largest planned indirect potable reuse project in the world.
- Listing of Awards
Michael R. Markus, P.E., F.ASCE, the General Manager of the OCWD reflected on the duration of the project:
"The Groundwater Replenishment System spanned a 15 year time period beginning in the early 1990's when the first idea was kicked around and ending with the plant going on line in January 2008."
"It was a tremendous honor for our organization to have the project being awarded the Stockholm Industry Water Award and the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA) Award. On a personal level, I was especially proud of the OCEA award since I am an ASCE member and understand the significance of the award and the stature of its past recipients."
Mr. Markus joined OCWD in 1988 as construction manager. In 2004, Markus was elevated to assistant general manager overseeing water production and groundwater recharge operations, in addition to serving as program manager for the Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) System, the world's largest indirect potable water recycling project. His portfolio at OCWD is impressive and includes overseeing construction of many of the water facilities OCWD depends upon today to refill and manage the groundwater basin.
When Markus was named General Manager of the Orange County Water District in September 2007, he became only the sixth general manager in the District's 74-year history. With more than 27 years of experience, Mike is well known for his expertise in construction management, planning and water resource management. Mr. Markus received two honors, which included the ASCE Government Engineer of the Year (Orange County Branch) and Engineering News Record (ENR) publication's Top 25 Newsmakers of 2007.
American Academy of Water Resources Engineers
1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191 USA
Phone:703-295-6414 Fax:703-295-6415
E-mail:[email protected]