Soil Aquifer Treatment Characterization with Soil Columns for Groundwater Recharge in the San Fernando Valley

In June 2014, the California Division of Drinking Water adopted the Groundwater Replenishment Recharge Regulations, allowing for spreading of recycled water treated to Title 22 standards supplemented by adequate dilution water. Facing this regulatory change, LADWP wanted to understand the soil aquifer treatment (SAT) process and how it may impact potable reuse in the coming years. Soil columns were demonstrated and operated to mimic a potential full-scale groundwater recharge practice to characterize the effectiveness of SAT by loading the soil columns with local aquifer media, feeding the soil columns with recycled water proposed for the project, and operating the soil columns in a cyclic mode to simulate regional groundwater recharge practices. Research partner: Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. Published in 2017.

Additional testing was conducted after the completion of the final report. The Extended Testing Report and the Phase III Testing Report detail this additional testing, and are available below under Resources.