Water officials want consultants to design recycling projects

Excavators and workers create a form for a 700 foot long, 4 foot high by 8 foot wide storm drain as construction progresses at Vista Canyon development in Canyon Country in February. Dan Watson/Signal
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Water officials are expected to hire consultants to design plans to bring water to Vista Canyon residential development in Canyon Country.

The Water Factory being planned is a recycled water plant, which is an integral part of the developmentā€™s conservation strategy.

Vista Canyon, which is being proposed by Valencia-based JSB Development Inc., is a mixed-use housing project that calls for more than 1,000 homes to be built and almost a 1 million square feet of commercial space on 185 acres across the Santa Clara River from Canyon Country Park. It would be located between Sand Canyon and Lost Canyon roads.

The Engineering Committee for the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency recently voted in favor of hiring consultants Woodward & Curran to design the factoryā€™s pipelines and voted to have Kennedy/Jenks Consultants design its storage tank.

The committeeā€™s recommendation is expected to be endorsed by the SCV Water Agencyā€™s board April 3 since it meets the objectives spelled out in its Recycled Water Master Plan, which calls for expanding ā€œthe existing recycled water system in the SCV to offset potable water demands.ā€

Simply put, SCV Water can conserve its drinking water supply by using recycled water for lawns.

The first phase of its recycled water plan involves developing pipelines in Valencia while the second phase involves bringing recycled water to the rest of the SCV.

Once completed, Ā Vista Canyon would provide recycled water to the east side of SCV.

Surplus water

This will be accomplished by using surplus recycled water provided by Vista Canyonā€™s water treatment plant referred to as the Water Factory.

Pipelines conveying the recycled water are expected to go from Vista Canyon ā€œto the Fair Oaks area,ā€ SCV Water spokeswoman Kathie Martin, told The Signal on Tuesday.

The pipeline would align itself along city streets, residential neighborhoods and a bridge crossing over the Metrolink Railroad.

It promises to generate about 415 acre-feet of recycled water each year. (An acre-foot of water is a volume area the size of a football field under one foot of water.)

About 137 acre-feet of water is expected to be used by the people in Vista Canyon over the course of one year. The surplus water, about 278 acre-feet a year, is earmarked for use by the residents of the Fair Oaks community.

Construction

Construction of Vista Canyon itself, meanwhile, is in full swing.

ā€œConstruction work of the facility is progressing well and vertical work has begun,ā€ Carrie Lujan, city of Santa Clarita spokeswoman, told The Signal Tuesday.

ā€œConstruction of subsurface concrete tanks is complete and formwork for the office building and the mechanical room is underway,ā€ she said. ā€œTarget completion date of the facility is Oct. 1, 2018.ā€

Vista Canyonā€™s Water Factory is Santa Claritaā€™s first large-scale water recycling project.

Once itā€™s built, the city will own and operate the plant and use recycled water to irrigate landscaping in in the area.

If all goes according to plan, water officials hope the Vista Canyon Water Factory will become the template for other water-recycling plants across the SCV, using recycled water to irrigate public areas such as parks and street medians.

Its ā€œwater factoryā€ would receive about 80 percent of the water leaving homes in Vista Canyon ā€“ from toilets to bathtub and kitchen sink drains.

The other 20 percent ā€“ solid wastes from the same sources ā€“ would go to the Saugus Water Reclamation Plant for treatment.

The 80 percent would be treated at the ā€œwater factoryā€ for the sole purpose of irrigating public areas such as parks. Planners emphasized the recycled water would not be for human consumption.

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