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The Orange County Water District (OCWD; the District) has been named as an awardee of four new grants for research and development. These 2019 grants highlight global and national partnerships OCWD has formed with other industry leaders at the forefront of water purification technologies.
“OCWD’s research and development staff are involved with promising new methods and technologies worldwide,” said OCWD President Vicente Sarmiento. “Collaboration with top universities and international experts is important in moving water research forward. We are honored to be awarded this funding that supports advancements in potable reuse.”
The first grant of $168,000 was awarded by the Bureau of Reclamation to OCWD and partner Stanford University. Approximately $120,000 of the grant is designated specifically for OCWD. The funds will be used to study whether peracetic acid is effective at reducing the formation of toxic disinfection by-products in advanced water treatment facilities. Evoqua Water Technologies is providing ultrafiltration membranes and pilot technical support for the project.
Earlier this year, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) awarded a grant to Yokogawa Electric Corporation for the development of a more rapid method for measuring viruses in water. METI named OCWD as a subawardee in the grant, along with the National Water Research Institute (NWRI). The District will receive a $25,000 portion of the grant to provide a technical review of Yokogawa’s method, including an evaluation of the method’s application in the water reuse industry with regards to membrane integrity.
OCWD also received grants from the Water Research Foundation of $75,000 and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Future Supply Actions Funding Program of $150,000 to evaluate virus log removal in wastewater treatment for potable reuse with study partners Orange County Sanitation District, Michigan State University and NWRI.
Finally, OCWD received $25,000 on a related grant from the Water Research Foundation that also seeks to demonstrate virus removal. Whereas the previous study will focus on demonstrating virus removal by the wastewater treatment process, this project will evaluate the advanced membrane treatment. The project is led by Carollo Engineers with partners from SPI, Southern Nevada Water Authority and Colorado School of Mines.
To read more about OCWD’s work in research and development, please visit https://www.ocwd.com/what-we-do/research-development/.
