O.C. Sanitation District unveils $102.5-million headquarters in Fountain Valley
The Orange County Sanitation District celebrated the completion of its new, $102.5-million headquarters in Fountain Valley with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday.
The new three-story building at 18480 Bandilier Circle encompasses 109,000 square feet and took nearly three years to complete. Funding for the project came primarily from ratepayers, district officials said. It is expected to open next month.
Chad Wanke, the board chairman for the district, said the primary driver behind the project was a need for more processing space to treat sewage. The headquarters will bring together more than 300 employees throughout the 100-acre Fountain Valley plant.
“The best option for us was to move some of those processes off site and then utilize the footprint to expand the actual operations,” Wanke said. “It’s been a big deal. The hard part is finding property, not overpaying for it, and with the limited options as far as proximity goes, it took us a long time to assemble the properties, work out deals with property owners, and then design and construct the building.
“This is something that has been a long time coming. It will make a big difference for the long-term operations, scalability and our ability to deliver effective services to the public.”
The Orange County Sanitation District does not serve the whole county, but its 25 members each have a seat on the board of directors. Its membership includes 20 cities that range from Los Alamitos to Irvine, and from Brea to a handful of coastal cities in Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.
Additionally, there are four member agencies in the Costa Mesa and Midway City sanitary districts, and the Irvine Ranch and Yorba Linda water districts, as well as representation from the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
Rob Thompson, general manager of OC San, elaborated on the services the district provides.
The district is working with cleantech startup 374Water on a supercritical water oxidation demonstration project that could change the future of wastewater treatment.
“[Wastewater] goes down the sewer line that we maintain,” Thompson said. “It doesn’t spill, comes all the way to our facilities here in Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach, and we turn that 185 million gallons of biohazard every day into 130 million gallons of pure drinking water with our partners, Orange County Water District.
“We make 11 megawatts of power in our power plant for our own use to process what we do. We also turn heat from our power plant into a resource in our digestion complex and to heat and cool our buildings. We make more than 500 tons a day of fertilizer for reuse in commercial agricultural markets.”
A 220-foot, open-air bridge will connect the new headquarters to the reclamation facility across Ellis Avenue.
Fountain Valley Mayor Glenn Grandis marveled at the 130 million gallons of water that the sanitation district reclaims daily. He added that the impact of construction to residents was minimal.
“It’s off in the industrial area,” Grandis said. “It didn’t really impact the residents all that much, and the bridge went up in a matter of four hours. They pre-built everything. They only closed that road for four hours on a Saturday. I was there when they did it.”
An open house event from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 8, will give the public a look at the new headquarters, as well as access to tours of the facility.
“There’s a huge opportunity to see how the infrastructure of Orange County works for anybody that wants to invest a little time,” Thompson added.
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