Water Facilities Authority

Facilities

TREATMENT PLANT

“Agua de Lejos” means “water from afar”.  Agua de Lejos Treatment Plant receives imported surface water supplies from the State Water Project (SWP) from Metropolitan Water District through Inland Empire Utilities Agency.  The name of the treatment plant is appropriate since the SWP water may originate as far north as Lake Oroville in Northern California and travel through the California Aqueduct to reach Southern California destinations, including the Inland Empire.

 The treatment plant, located on sixteen acres in North Upland, has the capacity to treat and disinfect 81 mgd (million gallons per day).   However, recent historical flows through the treatment plant is normally 40–50 mgd during the peak summer months and can be as low as

9-12 mgd during the slower winter months.

 The SWP includes 29 storage facilities, 18 pumping plants, 4 pumping-generating plants, 5 hydroelectric power plants and approximately 660 miles of canals and pipelines—spanning two-thirds of the length of California.

 After arriving in Southern California, some of the SWP water ends up in   Silverwood Lake

located in the San Bernardino Mountains, just east of the 215/15  freeway interchange.  From there, the water travels through the ten-foot diameter Rialto Pipeline to one of its many destinations across the foothills, including the Agua de Lejos Treatment Plant.

 Water, as it travels through the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta from Northern California (a natural marshland), picks up organic material.  As a result, SWP water tends to possess a higher organic content compared to other water sources like the Colorado River Supply.