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Earth Tech provided services to design, build, and operate a reverse osmosis water treatment plant and a 30,000-square-foot public works building for the city of Beverly Hills. The project is the first design-build-finance-operate (DBFO) water facility in California.
Until this time, Beverly Hills had been purchasing 100 percent of its drinking water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The city was looking for potable water alternatives, seeking a cost-effective and comprehensive approach to build a water treatment facility and a much-needed public works facility in a municipal area slated for a major developmental facelift.
Earth Tech approached the city with an all-inclusive integrated water management approach offering seamless services in design, construction, project finance, and operations. The project is designed to blend with the environment and also be a centerpiece for visitors learning about water resources.
The water treatment plant is designed to treat an average 3.5 mgd from four water supply wells containing high total dissolved solids, hydrogen sulfide and total hardness. The treatment plant removes dissolved solids and hardness using a reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment system. The RO system includes prefiltration, booster pumps, pretreatment chemical feed and a two-stage RO treatment skid. Air stripping and oxidation removes hydrogen sulfide. An air scrubber prevents excessive hydrogen sulfide from being emitted to the atmosphere. The plant can be expanded by 100 percent, and iron and manganese filtration can be added, should they become necessary.
The treatment plant includes a visitor’s observatory to showcase the plant and its operations. Within the observatory, visitors may view the plant's operations using SCADA viewing screens.
