[미국] WRD, 지역주민과 폐수재활용 프로젝트 협업

지난 6월 초 캘리포니아 Pico Rivera 지역 주민 75여 명이 서부 캘리포니아 물 함양 구역(Water Replenishment District, WRD)에 주요 폐수재활용 시설을 짓는 계획을 검토하고, 프로젝트를 심미적으로 아름답게 만들 뿐만 아니라 교육 프로그램 및 지역행사 장소로 활용할 수 있는 방안을 제시했다.

5.2에이커 규모의 부지에 지어지는 이 첨단 처리 플랜트는 연간 수십억 갤런의 폐수를 정화하고, 지하수 보충수를 재활용하기 위한 선진 처리방법을 이용할 예정이다.
 
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WRD collaborates with residents on major wastewater recycling project
 
At the beginning of June, more than 75 residents of Pico Rivera, Calif., reviewed a plan proposed by the Water Replenishment District (WRD) of Southern California to build a major wastewater recycling facility in their city and suggested ways to make the project aesthetically-pleasing as well as a venue for education programs and community events.
 
Located on a 5.2-acre site, the state-of-the-art treatment plant would purify billions of gallons of wastewater annually and use advanced treatment methods to recycle that water for groundwater replenishment. The meeting gave local residents an opportunity to share their views about how the facility should be designed and the types of community amenities that could be included in the project.
 
Pico Rivera Planning Commissioner Paul Gomez Gomez urged WRD to include instructional exhibits at the facility for school-age students to learn about the importance of water conservation and to make its public amenities as user-friendly as possible. Other design and amenity suggestions included Southwestern-style landscaping, adobe-like architecture, demonstration gardens, bathroom and drinking fountain facilities, a pet-friendly area, picnic tables, and a pedestrian bridge so local residents could easily and safely walk to the site.
 
WRD officials used the meeting to explain that the 45,000-square-foot water treatment facility that will occupy about a third of the 5.2-acre site is part of WRD's Groundwater Reliability Improvement Program (GRIP). Under that program, WRD will entirely use recycled wastewater to recharge the giant underground aquifers the agency manages. The groundwater pumped out of those aquifers by local water companies and municipalities provides about 40 percent of the water used by 4 million residents of South Los Angeles County.
 
Currently, about one third of the water WRD acquires to replenish the aquifers is imported from Northern California or the Colorado River. However, imported water is becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to obtain -- conditions that have been aggravated by the state's drought, Whitaker explained. When the water treatment facility in Pico Rivera becomes fully operational, WRD will no longer have to acquire imported water to keep its aquifers full.

 
[출처 = Water World / 2015년 6월 24일]