CURRENT PROJECTS
Regional Brine-Concentrate Management Study
Managed and Funded By: the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of ReclamationRecycled water, ocean desalination, and brackish groundwater desalination represent three largely untapped water supplies affected by the potential limiting factor of brine-concentrate disposal. Brine-concentrate – the unusable portion of water containing contaminants after water treatment – can be expensive to dispose of because of transportation costs and environmental laws regulating its disposal. In effort to establish a consensus on brine-concentrate management between government, industry, and the public, SCSC – partnered with 18 other California stakeholders – has organized a multiyear planning study that will aim to develop analytical models and research projects for a full scale demonstration pilot study, general design plans to construct a pilot brine-concentrate facility, and/or models/program plans to address socio-political issues surrounding brine management and disposal.
Self-Regenerating Water Softeners (SRWS) Public Outreach Program for the Santa Clarita Valley
Principal Investigators: Brian Louie, Supervising Engineer at the County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles CountyIn September 2007, the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District was awarded a $25,000 grant from SCSC to conduct targeted public outreach in the Santa Clarita Valley, California, about the District’s rebate and removal program for self-regenerating water softeners (SRWS) and assess its effectiveness. The goal of the program is to provide targeted outreach in communities known to have a high market penetration of SRWS and to encourage residents to remove these units, which contribute as much as 30 percent of the salt load in recycled water. Over 3,000 residents were targeted in this outreach effort, which began in December 2007, and to date has yielded more than 163 rebate applicants and the removal of over 100 SRWS.