Last month, Bill McDonnell from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) awarded Century Park (our customer of many years) the Water Efficiency Project of the Year for their revolutionary groundwater reclamation project. Century Park’s new water reclamation project will enable the facility to supply 100% of it is own water for irrigation, without buying a drop from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)- even during current extreme drought conditions.
In 1928, William Fox built a personal cowboy ranch for movie legend Tom Mix in the once grand and sprawling 20th Century Fox Studios. Thirty years later, the 176 acre site became Century Park, a historical landmark with two gleaming aluminum skyscrapers and a bustling metropolitan center stands where western stars – such as Tom Mix and John Wayne – once galloped into the sunset. Today, nearly a century later, one of American cinema’s golden age studios now plays a starring role in the water conservation initiatives of Los Angeles.
With California facing one of the most severe droughts on record, Century Park has resolved to find pioneering water-saving solutions to comply with strict conservation measures.
One of these solutions is the Century Park’s use of water-efficient technologies such as Falcon’s water free urinals and cartridges, leak detection and repairs which came as a direct response to the mandate to conserve water in Southern California. Although, the results have exceeded their expectations, Century Park decided that it is crucial to invest in more drought resilient initiatives.
Century Park sits on top of an aquifer containing non-potable water. The location, covered by a 14 acre combination of drought-tolerant and non-tolerant landscape, highlighted the importance of implementing an irrigation project that could help minimize their irrigation needs, which averages an astounding 6,000 to 10,000 gallons per day.
In order to become self-sustaining, Century Park will construct three, subterranean 10,000-gallon storage tanks for water reclamation. The project will utilize eight large pumps to continuously discharge ground water from the lowest level of the underground parking garage. Then, the water will be discharged into the storm drain system after being analyzed for more than 20 chemical constituents by a third party laboratory.
The groundwater reclamation project will be utilized for landscape irrigation, reducing combustion of DWP-purchase water by 100% and saving 2.9 million gallons of water a year. The recover water will lead the sustainability initatives of the area and offset expenses for project implementation.
Congratulations Century Park, we couldn’t be prouder of what you have accomplished. Your conservation efforts are greatly appreciated!
