Pure Water San Diego Stormwater Planning

The City of San Diego’s Pure Water Program is a phased, multi-year program aimed at reducing the city’s reliance on imported water by providing a new local water supply using recycled water. The program will be implemented in several phases and will generate up to one-third of the city’s potable water supply by 2035, while avoiding a costly ocean outfall upgrade. As currently planned, wastewater flows will be diverted to either new or existing water reclamation facilities and will undergo additional treatment at a Pure Water facility. The resulting purified water will be stored in existing reservoirs and blended with imported and local water supplies. The water will be treated at existing drinking water treatment plants for distribution through the City’s existing potable water supply system.

The City selected Carollo to design the first potable water reuse advanced water treatment plant in the program — the 34-mgd North City Pure Water Facility. Carollo also assessed the feasibility of diverting stormwater into the existing sewer system as an additional water supply. This ambitious program is California’s first surface water augmentation project and embodiment of holistic One Water thinking.