Improving the Game of Golf at Pebble Beach

In 1994, the Carmel Area Wastewater District (CAWD), Pebble Beach Community Services District (PBCSD), Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPMWD), and the Pebble Beach Company (PBCo) formed a joint public/private venture to deliver recycled water to provide irrigation to golf courses in the Del Monte Forest, including world-renowned Pebble Beach Golf Course. This joint venture began the Water Reclamation Project, which included tertiary treatment by sand-filtration followed by chlorine disinfection. Shortly after the delivery of recycled water began, the turf grasses on the golf courses showed signs of problems. The problem was identified to be the result of high sodium concentrations and high total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations in the recycled water; thus the Salinity Management Project was created to address the recycled water quality. Dual membrane technology (microfiltration [MF] followed by reverse osmosis [RO]) replaced the existing tertiary sand filtration process to meet the new recycled water quality criteria.