Combined use of recycled water and stormwater can contribute to water supply portfolios for water scarce cities. In this presentation, we discuss how infrastructure systems that use stormwater and recycled water together to augment groundwater recharge through spreading basins represents cost-effective opportunities to diversify water supplies. However, technical questions remain about how these types of spreading basin-aquifer recharge systems should be designed. Furthermore, existing planning tools are insufficient for performing robust design comparisons. To address this need, we present a novel model for identifying the best-case design and operation schedule for infrastructure systems that deliver advanced treated recycled water to underutilized stormwater spreading basins. The resulting recycled water systems are optimal with respect to life cycle costs and water deliveries. Through a case study of Los Angeles, California, this study illustrates how delivering recycled water to spreading basins could be optimally implemented and tradeoffs between centralized and decentralized configurations. Compared to existing methods, our model produces results that allow for a more comprehensive and precise analysis of the cost, water volume, and energy tradeoffs among different design scenarios to utilize excess capacity in existing spreading basins. Water management planners can use our model to inform decisions about spreading basin operation policies and the development of new water supplies. We present results of our ongoing study evaluating the systems-level tradeoffs between 1.) the full advanced treatment and ozone-BAC treatment trains and 2.) prioritizing recycled water or stormwater for maximal groundwater recharge.<br/>

Connecting recycled water to spreading basins for combined operation and greater water supply resiliency

255th National Meeting (2018)

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