Started at the HARRF in the Fall of 1998, Phase I Construction is a major rehabilitation of existing facilities and will improve secondary treatment efficiency. Phase II Construction, completed in 2001, adds tertiary treatment capability to create high quality water production for reuse as irrigation on local golf courses, parks, school grounds, green belts, roadway medians, open spaces and industrial use. Phase III Construction, currently being designed, will include a replacement administration building and a rebuild of the influent pump station and the primary treatment building.
Hale Avenue Resource Recovery Facility (HARRF) includes roughly 360 miles of pipelines and 14 pumping station which serve as the sanitary collection system backbone to direct this community’s domestic & industrial wastewater to it’s treatment plant, the HARFF.
View the Early Phase Overview for the Reuse Program
Overview Map
The MFRO facility will receive HARRF Title 22 recycled water. HARRF has a permitted wastewater treatment capacity of 18 mgd and 9 mgd tertiary capacity. The plant uses conventional activated sludge for secondary treatment and includes the following major processes: influent pump station, bars screens, grit chambers, primary clarifiers; aeration basins, secondary clarifiers; tertiary filters and chorine disinfection. Historical water quality of HARRF recycled water is provided in Table 2-1 attached.
The Feasibility Study discussed water quality requirements for the City’s agriculture producers with a key focus on avocado production which is one of the most important crops grown in Escondido. The limits of various water quality parameters that can diminish avocado crop productivity are provided in Table 2-2. This information was obtained based on meetings with members of the Escondido Growers of Agriculture Preservation (EGAP) as well as published information in the literature. Based on discussions with EGAP, it is desired to reduce the chloride concentration to 80 mg/L to prevent leaf burn, root rot and the need for excessive flushing however chloride concentrations up to 100 mg/L can be tolerated. It should be noted historical water quality provided by the City shows the average chloride concentration in raw source water supplies varies as follows: Lake Henshaw = 39 mg/L; Dixon Lake = 80 mg/L; and imported water via SDCWA = 81 mg/L. The average chloride concentration of the treated water from EVWTP is 75 mg/L.
Meeting MintuesOn Wednesday, April 16, 2014, in Escondido, the City Council endorsed a plan to spend estimated $258 million over the next 15 years. This would be on infrastructure that will allow the city to transform its sewage for irrigation use.
It is said that this is one of the best options for the city of Escondido due to a lack of sewer capacity which threatens to halt future commercial and residential developments. The only other option to increase capacity for the sewage system, would be to widen the 18 mile long pipeline, but this would cost an estimated $403 million to do this.
You can read more of this article from the San Diego Union Tribune
Read MoreEscondido water utilities is looking to link up water districts in North County by identifying who has a need for recycled water. Escondido is planning to build a pipeline that would redirect water bound for an ocean outflow and convert it into recycled water for avocado farms. Read the rest of the story at The Coast News
October 13, 2013
ESCONDIDO — Escondido will break ground this winter on a $6 million, three-story sewer administration building that’s a key step toward a city goal of recycling sewage into drinking water, city officials said. Read the entire article at UT San Diego
March 9, 2008 – Escondido considers options for disposing of excess sewage. The city is feeling the pinch from an increasing amount of sewage needing disposal and is considering several options, including storing it in recreational lakes. Read the entire article at UT San Diego