Recycled Water Pipeline & Strategic Plan

Full-sized Palo Alto Recycled Water Delivery and Expansion Map(PDF, 525KB)

Regional Map of Recycled Water Pipeline

The City of Palo Alto’s Recycled Water Program began in the early 1980s. The City’s Recycled Water Program conserves drinking water by providing an alternative water supply for irrigation and other non-potable uses. The City’s Regional Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP) produces recycled water for use in the East Palo Alto Sanitary District, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Stanford University. The City of Palo Alto's recycled water pipeline distributes recycled water from the RWQCP to the City of Mountain View and a few City of Palo Alto facilities (including the Municipal Golf Course, Municipal Services Center, Animal Services Facility, and Greer Park). Recycled water can be picked up  at the RWQCP by residents and businesses for approved uses. Learn more about the City’s recycled water and other non-potable water sources.

Currently, residents and businesses cannot connect to the recycled water pipeline.  The City of Palo Alto evaluated how to offer this service in the future under the Northwest County Recycled Water Strategic Plan.  The Northwest County Recycled Water Strategic Plan is a collaboration between the City of Palo Alto RWQCP and the Santa Clara Valley Water District that seeks to identify the most appropriate ways to expand the City of Palo Alto’s Recycled Water Program.  The plan evaluated the potential expansion of the recycled water pipeline to the Stanford Research Park area as well as potable water reuse. Refer to below sections for project task updates.  The Northwest County Recycled Water Strategic Plan project began in December 2016 and is scheduled for completion in 2020.

Northwest County Recycled Water Strategic Plan Task

Task 1: Project Coordination & Administration 

Task 2: Recycled Water Phase III Expansion Project Business Plan & Preliminary Design: 

• Final EIR Response to Comments
• Draft EIR Volume 1 Draft
• EIR Volume 2, Appendices
• Final Business Plan
• Final Preliminary Design Report
• August 2018 Utilities Advisory Commission Staff Report

Task 3: Northwest County Indirect Potable Reuse Feasibility Study & Groundwater Use Assessment

• Public stakeholder meeting: June 8, 2017 slides and June 8, 2017 sign-in sheet 
• Public stakeholder meeting: October 23, 2017 slides and October 23, 2017 sign-in sheet
• Final Groundwater Assessment and Indirect Potable Reuse Feasibility Evaluation and Implementation Strategy
• Using Groundwater from Temporary Dewatering Systems for Irrigation Technical Memorandum (Task 6.3)(PDF, 1MB)
• Using Groundwater to Irrigate City Parks Technical Memorandum (Task 6.4)(PDF, 680KB)
• Increasing Flow to RWQCP by Redirecting Existing Permanent Dewatering Systems to Sewers Technical Memorandum (Task 6.5)(PDF, 1MB)

Task 4: Recycled Water Strategic Planning

• October 2018 Utilities Advisory Commission Staff Report
• November 2018 City Council Study Session Staff Report
• Public stakeholder meeting: April 30, 2019 slides and April 30, 2019 sign-in sheet 
• Northwest County Recycled Water Strategic Plan Report(PDF, 6MB)
• Northwest County Recycled Water Strategic Plan Appendices

Task 5: Funding Identification

  Below is a summary of the funding opportunities applied for to date under this project:

• Title XVI WIIN 2017 Funding Announcement, Phase III Pipeline project, not awarded
• Title XVI WIIN 2018 Funding Announcement, 2.25 MGD AWPS project, not awarded
• San Francisco Bay Area Integrated Water Management Prop 1, 2.25 MGD AWPS project, in progress