2nd Phase of Recycled Water Pipeline Begins

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has begun construction on the second phase of its Westside Water Recycling Project--the installation of a pipeline to carry treated waste water into Westchester for irrigation and industrial use.

The $6-million project, funded by the city and state, is designed to pipe in recycled waste water that has been treated and upgraded to drinking water standards. Local treatment plants remove contaminants from waste water, which then is filtered, chlorinated and purified.

In December, the DWP finished the construction of a four-mile, two-foot diameter pipeline to Los Angeles International Airport area from arecycled water system at Imperial Highway and Aviation Boulevard.

The second phase of the project, which began this week and should be completed in May, extends the pipeline to Loyola Marymount University, which will use the treated water for landscape irrigation. The recycled water will also be used by parks, golf courses, concrete makers and dye shops in the area. Eventually, engineers want to extend the pipeline into the Playa Vista area.

Recycled waste water is effectively “drought-proof,” not subject to weather-related shortages, said Jerry Gewe, engineer of water resources for the DWP. Users pay less for recycled water, which frees up the water supply for other uses.

The Westside pipeline is one of the first recycled waste water projects in the city.

The DWP began supplying Griffith Park and Universal City customers with reclaimed water in 1992.