Saving the city of Los Angeles 28 Million gallons of Water Annually

OBJECTIVE

A large Los Angeles hospital faced two recent challenges. The first involved finding a use for the typical volume of more than 100,000 gallons of ground water being pumped daily to storm drain that became much more valuable to the hospital during the drought and the recent water rate increases and drive for savings from various governmental entities. The second challenge was to begin addressing OSHPD requirements for emergency water given a lack of storage space available on the tightly packed urban campus.

SOLUTION

Rethinkh2o engineers designed a system that treats the groundwater making it fit for purpose and use in industrial cooling. The suite of equipment includes an RO based system with pre-treatment modules. The system is fully automated and ties together three groundwater sumps, two tanks with corresponding pump skids and all the treatment equipment with a Master Control Panel that feeds the building automation system and also selected, secure offsite viewers.

Design challenges included citing the equipment suite, allowing for growth using other sources of water for expansion, addressing the future 2030 need for potable water, dealing with seasonality of flows and characteristics in mix of ground and municipal water and also gaining OSHPD permit. We were able to adapt the system midway through installation to address an unrelated water issue that arose using our vast experience and problem solving acumen.

OUTCOME

The Rethinkh2o team projections for groundwater volume and yield have been spot on. The system is projected to save 25-30 million gallons per year achieving net savings of over $200,000 per year after O&M costs factored in. The city of Los Angeles has an annual goal of 100 milliong gallons saved by business users – this single project represents more than 25% of the annual goal for the city! The Rethinkh2o team was also able to secure water savings incentives from municipal providers DWP and MWD to offset capital expenditures that are worth in excess of $350,000.