Startup of the Grip AWT Facilities

The Albert Robles Center (ARC) of the Water Replenishment District of Southern Californiaís (WRDís) Groundwater Reliability Improvement Project (GRIP) is a state of the art advanced water treatment facility (AWT) incorporating ultrafiltration (UF), reverse osmosis (RO), and ultraviolet light photolysis/advanced oxidation (UV/AOP). The ARC treatment facilities have a maximum capacity of 14.8 mgd in their initial installed phase. The project also employs pre- and post-treatment systems, including a lime-based remineralization system for final product stabilization. Production of waste residuals is minimized with an overall recovery of 92.5 percent. The ARC produced first water in December 2018 and concluded its 30-day test in October 2019. The commissioning program was unique in that delays in implementation of control system programming forced much of its development to occur on site; while contract milestones forced the commissioning team to accelerate UF and RO membrane loading. Testing with dummy modules on the UF racks and orifice plugs in the RO vessels was minimal. Instead, ìdryî checks of valve and other operating sequences were employed followed by close monitoring of initial operations by members of the commissioning team.