The Paradise Irrigation District (PID)
Water Treatment Plant was constructed in 1994 to meet new state water quality standards
that require both filtration and disinfection treatment of surface water. Current
plant capacity is 22.8 million gallons per day (MGD) and is expected to meet water demands
through the year 2020.
The plant is located near the Sierra
Nevada historical, foothill town of Magalia, California. The plant design utilizes
state of the art technology and produces high quality water that exceeds all state
drinking water standards. In 1998 the District received the California Department of
Health Services award for plant performance and its participation in the crypto action
plan (C.A.P.) The state standard for turbidity is 0.5 ntu. The
C.A.P. involves
optimizing treatment plant operations to achieve maximum turbidity removal, with a goal of
0.1 ntu. This performance level insures the removal of Cryptosporidium and Giardia
cysts that have caused major gastroenteritis outbreaks throughout the United States.
In 1993 an outbreak of Cryptosporidiosis affected more than 400,000 people in Milwaukee,
Wis. The plant is staffed with state certified personnel and is operated 24 hours a
day to insure high water quality and
continuous service.
Raw water is pumped to the treatment plant from the
25 (MGD) Raw water pump station, located at the base of Magalia Reservoir. The pump
station is equipped with 5 vertical turbine pumps totaling 420 horsepower. A 500 kW
generator provides emergency power for the pump station as well as the treatment plant.
Treated water is stored in 4 steel storage
tanks and one reservoir with a floating cover and located at various points throughout the
district. The storage tanks were installed in 1967. Their major function is to
supply water, fire demand reservation, system peaking and emergency storage.
The water storage in these tanks range from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 gallons of water. The
hypalon reservoir is capable of storing 3,000,000 gallons of water. |
