Federal Facility, Superfund NPL
Click on images
below for details
Los Angeles
Basin
Off-Site
Extraction/
Treatment
Water Treatment System
Energy
Reductions
Cleanup Objectives: Treat ground water and soil through (1) on-facility soil vapor extraction to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the source area soil, (2) on-facility extraction, treatment, and reinjection to treat VOCs and perchlorate in source area ground water, and (3) pumping of ground water to an existing and one proposed off-facility municipal treatment plant for removal of residual VOCs and perchlorate
Green Remediation Strategy: Optimize the proposed municipal water treatment system to reduce energy and water intensity, and implement green construction techniques through a partnership with the City of Pasadena and related federal facility funding
- Undertook critical collaboration with the City of Pasadena during the project's conceptual design phase, which allowed sufficient time to incorporate green strategies into design and construction
- Offered a 1% contractor incentive for efforts supporting greening goals of Executive Order 13423
- Used Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) construction criteria to plan stormwater management, outdoor lighting, waste management, materials reuse/recycling, and environmentally friendly material purchasing
- Modified pumping configurations to reduce elevation changes and pipeline friction along the water transfer corridor between the production wells and the proposed water treatment facility
- Optimized the proposed treatment system (liquid-phase granular activated carbon, ion exchange, filtration, and disinfection units) by negotiating with the water treatment vendor to remove post-filtration cartridge filters
- Evaluated renewable energy options including (1) an in-line microturbine system for an existing pressure reducing station located on the same property as the proposed water treatment facility and (2) photovoltaics (PV) for the adjacent (existing) water storage reservoir
- Evaluating more opportunities for reducing water intensity of well operations/flushing and treatment unit backwash, taking into account the high economic value of Los Angeles Basin water
Results:
- Reduced anticipated capital costs by $200,000 due to elimination of the original water treatment configuration involving post filtration
- Reduced the proposed water treatment system's pressure head as a result of optimization, consequently allowing integration of smaller pumps with lower energy demands
- Saving $50,000/year and 330,000 pounds/year of greenhouse gas emissions due to pumping configuration and optimization
- Coordinated with Pasadena Water and Power to optimize decision-making regarding options such as a power purchase agreement, green power purchasing, peak shaving, peak shifting, and emergency power
- [City of Pasadena] Conducting structural improvements to the existing water transfer station to accommodate a roof-top PV system for air conditioning
- [City of Pasadena] Investigating implementation of the in-line microturbine system
- Contributing to sustainable environmental stewardship of the Los Angeles Basin, which suffers from VOC and perchlorate contamination caused by multiple sources
Property End Use: Ongoing missions of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Point of Contact: Steven Slaten, NASA
