Cost-Effective Operations: The Tale of The City of Lodi

During the first year of operation, the City of Lodi and its consultant reviewed options to reduce operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. Two major opportunities were identified that could be realized without affecting the permit requirements and the membrane warranty. These included unmanned operations and reduced chemical consumption (wash water recovery anionic polymer, membrane clean-in-place (CIP) chemicals). This paper presents the work approach established and implemented to realize these two opportunities. The paper also identifies the key issues that were scrutinized by the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Division of Drinking Water (DDW) as part of the regulatory approval process.