CASE STUDY: Tillman Water Reclamation Plant

If ever a wastewater treatment facility can be described as beautiful, this is it! The Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant (DCT) in Los Angeles, California, combines technology with tranquility. The DCT is home to both a wastewater treatment facility and a Japanese garden. The garden is open to the public all year long.

Water is a central element to any Japanese garden and the fact that the water used in the Tillman Japanese garden is reclaimed adds to the overall sense of harmony. Weddings and other events are held in the garden each year.

As stated on the DCT’s website, “over 25 million gallons per day of reclaimed water is produced. About 2.5 million gallons per day are recycled at the plant for treatment processes, landscape irrigation, cooling of plant equipment, air conditioning, and other applications. Over 23 million gallons per day are recycled to the three nearby lakes, the Japanese Garden Lake , the Wildlife Lake and the Balboa Recreation Lake . The remainder of the Plant’s treated water is discharged directly to the Los Angeles River. The plant’s discharge, combined with the outfall from the three lakes, provides a minimum of 20 million gallons per day to the Los Angeles River for support of the river’s riparian habitat.”

Today, the Los Angeles Department of Public Works is collaborating with other city departments to expand the project further.

Originally, the facilities were designed to treat 40MGD of wastewater; however, major renovations to the plant were completed in 1991 which doubled the capacity of the plant. Sixty percent of this flow is generated by residences and forty percent comes from commercial uses.  The success of this water reclamation depends on the five stages of treatment: preliminary, primary, secondary and tertiary treatment, followed by final disinfection. The highly efficient, low maintenance Headworks® Mahr Bar Screens® were the obvious addition to this plant to replace the out of date climber screens in 2007.  Four Mahr Bar Screens were installed as the preliminary stage of the treatment process to remove the largest solids from the wastewater.

According to Edward Lozon, Maintenance Manager for Tillman WRP, “We are really excited about the new Headworks screens. The fact that there is practically no maintenance is brilliant following issues we have experienced with 2 different types of screens in the past, and you [Headworks Inc.] have provided outstanding customer service so far. The low installation height meant that it wasn’t necessary to make any major modifications to the existing channels, nor was any enclosure needed. The screens are very small and absolutely odorless.”

The Headworks screens have integrated well into the system, giving dependable service together with an elegant look.  With high performance a must at this site which is visited by thousands each year, customer satisfaction with our equipment is high.  For a virtual tour of the plant, click here.

Anyone who has ever tried to explain how wastewater is treated to friends or family, will find this site a true work of art like the Japanese Garden itself.  The virtual tour not only takes you through the flow of the plant, but explains what each step of the process is along the way.  And if you are in Los Angeles, be sure to make a real tour part of your plan!