General Plan Update - City of Inglewood

Chapter 3 Infrastructure
Operation
The JWPCP is one of the largest wastewater treatment plants in the world and is the
largest of LACSD’s wastewater treatment plants. The facility provides both primary and
secondary treatment for approximately 320 million gallons of wastewater per day. Solids
collected in primary and secondary treatment are processed in anaerobic digestion tanks
where bacteria break down organic material and produce methane gas. After digestion,
the solids are dewatered and hauled off site for use in composting, land application, or
combined with municipal solid waste for co-disposal. Methane gas generated in the
anaerobic digestion process is used to produce power and digester heating steam in a
combined cycle power plant that utilizes gas turbines and waste-heat recovery steam
generators. The on-site generation of power permits the JWPCP to be self-sufficient with
respect to its energy requirements. The plant serves a population of approximately
3.5 million people throughout Los Angeles County. Prior to discharge, the treated
wastewater is disinfected with hypochlorite and sent to the Pacific Ocean through a
network of outfalls. These outfalls extend two miles off the coast of Southern California
into the Palos Verdes Peninsula to a depth of 200 feet. 29
Water Treatment
Wastewater treatment involves processes that, at minimum, remove solids to a level that
meets regulatory water quality standards. The treatment processes include preliminary,
primary, secondary, and tertiary phases, each of which removes progressively finer grains
of solids. At the end of secondary treatment, most solids have been removed from the
water. Tertiary treatment eliminates remaining impurities through filtration and
disinfection. There are three wastewater treatment plants that serve the jurisdictions
within the watershed. As mentioned above, JWPCP is operated by LACSD and occupies
approximately 142 hectares (350 acres) to the east of the Harbor (110) Freeway. The
JWPCP is the largest of the Districts' wastewater treatment plants, providing full
secondary treatment for up to 400 million gallons of wastewater per day (mgd).
The JWPCP serves communities throughout the entire South Bay, as well as communities
as far east as Downey and as far north as Inglewood. The treated wastewater is
disinfected with chlorine and sent to the Pacific Ocean through a network of outfalls that
extends approximately three kilometers (two miles) off the Palos Verdes Peninsula to a
depth of 200 feet.
Recycled Water Use
The City has a recycled water use program and has been purchasing recycled water from
West Basin Municipal Water District [WBMWD] Water Recycling Plant, located in El
Segundo, California since 1995. Approximately 655 af/year (acre-feet) are delivered to
industrial, municipal, and school district facilities for the irrigation of landscape and other
non-potable uses.
29 http://www.lacsd.org/jwpcp/jwpcp.htm
3.2-2
City of Inglewood General Plan Update Technical Background Report