{"id":527725,"date":"2019-01-03T12:47:33","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T12:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/?p=527725"},"modified":"2020-10-14T09:50:37","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T09:50:37","slug":"san-francisco-s-water-system-improvement-program-fighting-droughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/thought-leaders-interviews\/san-francisco-s-water-system-improvement-program-fighting-droughts.html","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco’s Water System Improvement Program: fighting droughts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"San<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In California, a state where water has become a scarce commodity, San Francisco is a pioneer in the reuse of water in an effort to reduce consumption among residents. The installation of on-site non-potable water reuse systems for storm water, rain water and gray water has contributed to consumption falling to some of the lowest per capita levels in the state. An ordinance requires new buildings of a certain size to use the system for anything that does not require potable water, such as toilets and cooling towers. Paula Kehoe, Director of Water Resources at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), explains the public multi-utility\u2019s strategy in an interview with \u201cWe Build Value\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your water system in San Francisco is one of the most pioneering in the country. Can you explain briefly how it works?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u00abThe San Francisco Public Utilities Commission provides three utility\n services: water, power and sewer. For nearly 100 years, we have been \nproviding San Francisco Bay Area residents and businesses high-quality \ndrinking water. Today, we serve 2.7 million people in four Bay Area \ncounties.  
\nOur Regional Water System is complex. It includes three watersheds, 11 \nreservoirs, five pump stations, and two water treatment plants. The \ndistribution infrastructure includes over 280 miles of pipeline and 60 \nmiles of tunnels traveling over 167 miles, crossing four county lines \nand three major earthquake faults. It takes a fleet of well-qualified \nand dedicated operators and engineers of the SFPUC to deliver water from\n this system safely and reliably to our customers every single day.  
\nWhile we face increasing risks and challenges to our water supply due to\n a variety of concerns, such as earthquakes, droughts, regulatory \nchanges and population growth, we are working harder than ever to ensure\n a resilient water supply for the next hundred years. One major \ninitiative is the $4.8 billion Water System Improvement Program, which \nis designed to improve our seismic and drought reliability as well as \nwater quality improvements and water supply diversification\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has the recent drought changed your focus on water management?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u00abAs California is prone to droughts, it is important to consider \nwater conservation as a way of life. Since the early 1990s, we \nrecognized the need to establish a conservation program and to enhance \nlocal water supplies. Decades of promoting conservation has led to a per\n capita water use in San Francisco of 42 gallons per person per day \nwhich is among the lowest in the United States. We are supplementing our\n surface water supplies with groundwater, recycled water and non-potable\n water to enhance water supply reliability and resiliency\u00bb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some of your most innovative projects?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u00abThrough OneWaterSF, we have cultivated a shift in thinking about \nwater and energy resource management. OneWaterSF has allowed us to move \naway from operating within traditional water, wastewater and energy \nboundaries to a more holistic resource management approach that enables \nus to better recognize, value and utilize our resources.  
\nAs a leader in pioneering new technologies to reduce water use and to \nreuse water, our headquarters incorporates an onsite, decentralized \nwater system and exemplifies OneWaterSF. The innovative constructed \nwetland systems, located in the sidewalks around and inside the \nbuilding, treats roughly 5,000 gallons of blackwater each day for toilet\n and urinal flushing, reducing our potable water demands in the building\n by 60 percent.
\nThe pioneering reuse project at our headquarters was the impetus behind \none of the nation\u2019s most cutting-edge onsite water reuse programs. Our \nNon-potable Water Program allows for the collection, treatment and reuse\n of rainwater, stormwater, graywater and blackwater at a building or \ndistrict-scale. Today, all new developments over 250,000 square feet in \nSan Francisco are required to treat their own water onsite to meet their\n toilet flushing and irrigation demands\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do other cities do this too?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u00abOnsite non-potable water systems have been installed in cities \nthroughout the world-New York, Seattle, Tokyo, Sydney and others. \nHowever, San Francisco\u2019s program is unique in that it streamlines the \npermitting process for developers and incorporates water standards that \nare health risk based to protect public health. As with any emerging \nstrategy, the field of practice for onsite non-potable water reuse is \nstill taking shape. That\u2019s why we established the National Blue Ribbon \nCommission for Onsite Non-potable Water Systems to advance best \nmanagement practices to support the use of onsite non-potable water \nsystems across the United States. We\u2019ve made significant research \ncontributions and advanced policies and regulations for onsite water \nreuse enabling jurisdictions to move forward with programs to advance \nimplementation of onsite systems, including California, Colorado, \nMinnesota, Texas, and Alaska\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"San
Golden Gate and the Bay Area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
With this legislation, you have spearheaded San Francisco\u2019s \npioneering adoption of on-site non-potable water treatment systems. How \ndo they work? How much water can be saved?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u00abThe design and operational complexity of an onsite non-potable water\n system will vary depending on the water source and end use. In all \ncases, the technology exists to treat water for non-potable uses within a\n small footprint and in a manner that protects public health. A common \ntreatment technology for rainwater is ultraviolet light disinfection \nwhereas a treatment system for blackwater may consist of a membrane bio \nreactor, ultraviolet light disinfection, and chlorine.
\nOnsite treated water can be used for a variety of non-potable uses \nwithin and outside building. Replacing the demand for toilet and urinal \nflushing with non-potable water can offset approximately 25 percent of \nthe total potable water use in a residential building, and up to 75 \npercent in a commercial building. Other potential non-potable demands \ninclude irrigation, cooling\/heating applications, process water and \nclothes washing. Using onsite treatment systems to meet these demands \ncan further reduce potable water demands by a total of 50 to 90 \npercent\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any other innovative projects going on?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u00abWe are continuing to look to the future by leading a cutting-edge \neffort to test the feasibility of purified water for San Francisco. We \nhave initiated a 9-month pilot project that takes treated water from our\n onsite water treatment system within the SFPUC\u2019s building and further \ntreats it to meet drinking water standards. The pilot uses \nultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, and advanced oxidation with \nultraviolet lights. After data collection, the water will be returned to\n the building for toilet flushing. The pilot has three main objectives: \n1) see how consistently and reliably the technology works, 2) gather \nin-depth water quality data and 3) engage our communities on potable \nreuse. PureWaterSF is supported by grants from the Water Research \nFoundation and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the future projects you are working towards now?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u00abWe\u2019ve recently expanded on onsite program to allow breweries to \ncapture and treat process water onsite for reuse. This effort required \nus to develop a tailored chemical and pathogen control strategy for \nbreweries. We anticipate local breweries moving forward with onsite \ntreatment systems and we see this as an exciting opportunity to reduce \nthe amount of water used in beer making as on average its takes five \ngallons of water to produce one gallon of beer\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is this $4.8 billion rolling capital improvement plan split between public and private sources?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u00abThe majority of our capital improvement program is funded by our \nratepayers and our wholesale customers. We have received a few grants \nand seek low interest loans for our capital projects. For example, we \nreceived loan and grant for a recycled water project from the State \nWater Resources Control Board\u2019s Clean Water State Revolving Fund which \nwill save $123 million for our ratepayers\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you noticed a change in attitude of the community and stakeholders in recent years around conservation issues?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u00abWe value our long-standing partnerships that we have established \nwith the diverse communities that we serve. Water is serious, but it \ndoesn\u2019t have to be humorless. We look for unconventional ways to engage \nthe public. For example, to get people on board with 10 percent water \nconservation goals, we launched a public education campaign to show that\n water conservation is smart and sexy, to capture public attention and \npresent water conservation tips and information about the drought. We \nwent from a residential per capita water use of 185 liters per day in \n2013 to 155 liters per day in 2016\u00bb.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In California, a state where water has become a scarce commodity, San Francisco is a pioneer in the reuse of water in an effort to reduce consumption among residents. The installation of on-site non-potable water reuse systems for storm water, rain water and gray water has contributed to consumption falling to some of the lowest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":527729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[19012,19013,12216],"yst_prominent_words":[3790,3787,3781,15581,3795,3801,3794,3799,3788,1266,3786,3780,3778],"class_list":["post-527725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thought-leaders-interviews","tag-hydraulic-risk","tag-north-and-south-america","tag-water"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527725"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":541233,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527725\/revisions\/541233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527725"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=527725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}