AECOM has been selected by the Santa Clara Valley Water District to provide professional design services for a new direct potable reuse pilot facility in California, supporting plans to develop a more drought-resilient source of drinking water for Silicon Valley.
The Pure Water Silicon Valley Demonstration Facility Project will evaluate advanced treatment technologies for direct potable reuse (DPR) and help inform potential future implementation across the region.
Under the contract, AECOM will lead the design of the pilot facility at the existing Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center site.
The facility will be capable of producing up to 200 gallons of water per minute and will be used to assess treatment performance, water quality and operational requirements associated with DPR.
AECOM will also design an approximately 10,000-square-foot learning centre. The building will be LEED-certified and solar-ready and will support public education, community engagement and workforce development around advanced water purification and reuse.
AECOM to provide project management and engineering
AECOM’s scope covers project management and coordination, pilot facility design and engineering, and architecture and building engineering services for the learning centre.
The company will also provide regulatory and permitting support, public outreach assistance, quality assurance and quality control, and specialist technical services.
AECOM will work alongside Kennedy Jenks and a wider team of subconsultants on the programme.
Beverley Stinson, chief executive of AECOM’s global Water business, said the demonstration project would contribute to the technical and regulatory understanding required for future water reuse programmes.
“This project is the first-of-its-kind and represents one of the most comprehensive evaluations of DPR-advanced water treatment technologies, helping further the knowledge and regulatory understanding needed to support future water reuse programs and shape the future of DPR in the region,” she said.
Direct potable reuse involves treating recycled water to drinking-water standards before introducing it directly into a potable water supply system. The Silicon Valley project will provide Valley Water with operational data and evidence as it considers the technology as part of its longer-term water supply strategy.
Project targets greater water resilience
The project comes as California water agencies look for additional sources of supply capable of improving resilience to drought, climate variability and population growth.
Locally controlled recycled water could provide Silicon Valley with a supply that is less dependent on rainfall and imported water.
Matt Crane, chief executive of AECOM’s US West region, said: “As communities across California continue to address water supply challenges driven by population growth and climate variability, innovative water reuse programs are becoming increasingly important.”
“Our team brings decades of experience delivering state-of-the-art water treatment facilities, as well as a more than 50-year relationship with Valley Water.”
The demonstration facility will allow Valley Water to evaluate technologies and operating approaches before decisions are made on potential larger-scale DPR infrastructure.
Alongside the technical testing programme, the learning centre will provide a dedicated facility for explaining the treatment process to communities and developing workforce capabilities associated with advanced water purification.
AECOM’s appointment extends a relationship with Valley Water spanning more than five decades and adds another water reuse project to the company’s infrastructure design and project management portfolio.
