Just as the wastes in a stream settle to the bottom, so the first process in a treatment plant separates and settles out the solids. In a stream, nature's own bacteria then consume organic materials that are left in the water. In a treatment plant a large biological culture of bacteria and microbes consumes the organic wastes. And as water from the stream filters through the stream bed and is returned to the soil to again be pumped up and reused . . . The last stage in the treatment plant is disinfection.
Nature does it with oxygen and time.
Man does it with chlorine. Duplicating nature's billion year old processes allows a water reclamation plant to produce water that is clean, free of bacteria, and ready to be used again. The initial water reuse facilities placed in service during 1980 furnish 140 million gallons of reclaimed water annually to 285 acres of El Dorado Park West, including the 150 acre El Dorado golf course. It was the first step in a far-sighted water conservation effort approved by the Board, and was financed from Water Department funds. Phase 2 facilities, which deliver 85 million gallons of reclaimed water annually to 175 acres of Recreation Park north of Seventh Street and the 18 hole Recreation Park golf course became operational November 4, 1982.