News release
The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency recently completed construction of the Wash Water Return and Sludge Systems Project at its Earl Schmidt Filtration Plant, located near Castaic Lake. The additions will improve treatment plant operations, ensure regulatory compliance and reduce staff maintenance activities, according to a news release from the agency.
“The completion of these modifications enhances the operational reliability of the wash water return system and the maintenance of the sludge collection system,” SCV Water’s Water Treatment Manager Rafael Pulido said in the release. “And overall, this project has increased the resiliency of our water treatment system.”
The project, which cost approximately $18.8 million and took two years to construct, included the addition of two wash water return basins, one sludge thickener tank and one sludge drying bed to the water treatment system.
Prior to the project, the plant had two existing wash water return basins, one sludge thickener tank and two sludge drying beds.
During the treatment process, water goes through filtration, which is the process of passing water through material such as a bed of coal, sand, or other granular substance to remove particulate impurities. The different materials work like a giant strainer and trap remaining particulates, but after time, the filters start to get packed full of particles.
Water treatment operators clean the filters using a procedure called backwashing. Potable water is run backward through the filters, releasing the entrapped particulates. This wash water is sent to the wash water return basins and, after a settling process, the wash water is returned to the head of the plant and combined with raw water from Castaic Lake to be treated.
