A Compact, Efficient and Expandable Title 22 Treatment System for Small Water Systems

San Simeon, California is a small Pacific Coast community best known as the location of the tourist attraction Hearst Castle. The community wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was faced with a substantial state fine due to violations of their discharge permit from their secondary effluent ocean outfall. The community was given the option to direct a portion of the fine funds towards an environmental improvement project that w as related to the violation cause. The decision was made to pursue reducing their effluent discharge volume by installing a water reuse system to provide California Title 22 compliant water for local irrigation needs. Through innovative engineering and product selection the community was able to build a very simple and effective tertiary level treatment system for their wastewater flow which was installed within a small footprint at the WWTP and with modularity to allow for easy future expansion as the community recycled water demands expand.