Oakland high-rise will recycle wastewater to conserve

By: Eric Brazil - San Francisco Chronicle

Oakland - July 31, 2001 - A 20-story office building under construction in downtown Oakland will become the Bay Area's first high-rise to be fitted with a dual plumbing system to utilize recycled water -- treated wastewater from domestic uses -- for flushing its toilets. With an imaginative reach uncommon among public agencies, the East Bay Municipal Utility District has linked its campaign to increase the use of recycled water to 555 City Center, a $100 million venture by the Shorenstein Co.

Although the 472,000-square-foot steel-and-glass tower figures to be a distinctive addition to Oakland's skyline, it is the purple-wrapped copper pipe invisible from the exterior that is likely to give it landmark status among Northern California water agencies.

The first commercial high-rise to go up in downtown Oakland since 1990, the building is the poster child for the utility district's ambitious $20 million East Bayshore Recycled Water Project. Its goal: to deliver 2.3 million gallons of recycled water per day to businesses in Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, Alameda and Albany, thereby saving enough drinking water to serve more than 15, 000 homes.

What drives the utility district's emphasis on recycling is the need for a sustainable water supply. California's relentless growth -- the population is expected to increase from 34 million to 50 million by 2020 -- puts such heavy demands on the domestic water supply that a second source is needed. Recycled water is that source.

"It's drought-proof," said Laura Johnson, director of EBMUD's Office of Water Recycling. "It's an untapped resource for water supplies. A huge volume of wastewater gets dumped into the bay every day, and with new applications, we can help with sustainable development."

Recycled water is already being used by the utility district to irrigate golf courses and landscaped areas and for cooling applications at Chevron's refinery in Richmond.

By expanding its reach into dual plumbing, the East Bayshore Recycled Water Project moves into territory that is relatively new ground in the Bay Area. Only the Marin County Jail is among buildings of comparable size so equipped, although eight others in the Marin Municipal Water District have dual plumbing.

The project is still in the design phase, but the utility district has begun building the distribution system to deliver recycled water from its wastewater treatment plant to dual-plumbed buildings early in 2003. The recycled water will have received extra disinfectant as well as treatment in which wastewater is put through three cleansing processes, Johnson said.

The 555 City Center building is scheduled to be ready for occupancy in late March -- well ahead of EBMUD's project. Consequently, the purple pipes will be run with potable water until the project comes on line. But when the time comes, "we'll just turn off the valve and switch over" to using recycled water for flushing toilets, said Nicholas Loukianoff, Shorenstein's development manager for the project.

The utility district was the active party in enlisting the Shorenstein Co. in the dual plumbing venture. The company owns and manages more than 1 million square feet of office and retail space within the 12-block City Center development in downtown Oakland.

The utility district considers dual plumbing for 555 City Center a demonstration project, and to that end it paid for the extra piping, about $75, 000 worth, Johnson said.

A state law that took effect in January authorized EBMUD and other water districts to apprise cities within their jurisdictions of their intent to provide recycled water. The law also requires cities served by such districts to enact water recycling ordinances within 180 days after receiving such notification.

"All of our cities have been notified of our plan, and all of the mayors have sent letters endorsing it," Johnson said.

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