Hydroelectric Plant Rehabilitation at Valley View; Photo credit Ibar Salazar
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT MET THIS WEEK
A weekly newsletter by and for Metropolitan employees
June 11, 2018
Recycled Water Plant Progress Story 
Metropolitan and its member and retail water agencies are looking at many ways to conserve and increase water supplies. One way is to recycle more water locally.

Last fall, Metropolitan and the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County broke ground on a 500,000 gallons per day water recycling demonstration project in Carson. Here’s a video on the progress.

"Construction is about 40% complete," said Project Manager John Bednarski . The project is on track to begin testing the treatment systems by the end of 2018."

Met is evaluating an innovative alternative to the standard advanced water treatment process using membrane bioreactor processes along with reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light/advanced oxidation process (UV/AOP). The demo plant will show how the product water meets water quality requirements.

The site will also host visitors to learn about the treatment process and the advantages of using recycled water.

Technical and operational information learned from the demonstration plant will be carefully evaluated by Met’s Board when it is ready to consider investing in the construction of a full-scale recycled water plant in the years ahead.

If the decision is made by the Board to move forward with the full-scale project, it would likely be one of the nation's largest water recycling plants, producing a water source to replenish groundwater basins in LA and Orange counties.

A program report will be presented to the Board’s E&O Committee today by Mickey Chaudhuri of WSO. The presentation can be found here .
TIle Tales: The Story of the Weymouth Tiles
With its distinctive Mission Revival style architecture, bell tower, vivid mosaic and colorful tiles, Metropolitan’s Weymouth Water Treatment Plant in La Verne is a unique historical landmark.

Visitors often ask about the tiles and recently our GM tweeted about the ones on the fountain near the admin building. We wanted to learn more.

Turns out these tiles were most likely made in 1939 by the Santa Catalina Island Tile Company, which was founded by William Wrigley (of chewing gum fame) and purchased in 1937 by Gladding McBean Tiles. They supplied all the tiles used for the Weymouth Plant. 

Face brick, floor tile and roofing tiles were initially produced at the factory, followed by patio tiles and Cuenca-style pavers. By the late 1920s, the company was producing glazed art tile not only for use on Catalina Island, but to be sold all over the country. In addition to their pottery shop on the island, they also had one on Olvera Street – just across the street from where Metropolitan’s HQ now stands.

Daniel Elliott, architect of the Weymouth building, chose the tiles for the building. Tiles from the same company were also used at San Diego’s Alvarado Water Treatment Plant and Union Station.

The tiles have even provided the inspiration for the artwork that will be at the Gold Line’s new La Verne station. There, steps of an old orchard ladder will create a sculpture with repeating zig-zag pattern – an ancient symbol of water. This pattern appears in the ceramic tile ornamentation at Weymouth.
Big Heart, Little Legs:
Corgi Races
You can’t blame Roxie for not wanting to run. She is, after all, 84 in human years. And whose idea was it anyway to have Corgis - with their tiny little legs - run on the Santa Anita racetrack with a bunch of potential new Corgi friends waiting to sniff and be sniffed? 

Well that’s where Roxie, owned by Monica Castillo , found herself at the First Annual SoCal Corgi Nationals on May 27. 

Enticed by the fundraiser for the Queen’s Best Stumpy Dog Rescue, Monica thought it would be fun to work with 12-year-old Roxie and participate in the Super Senior and Special Needs category in Heat 6 of the 10-heat qualifying first rounds. 

“Practice went great,” Monica said adding, “of course there were no distractions.” On race day she was placed behind the starting-line divider (imagine a mini horse stall with slots and a bunch of Corgis loaded behind the plastic sliding wall). 

The whistle was blown and the divider went up. But not one dog came out running. Monica was at the other end of the track and “watched her as she went and greeted people on the sidelines."

Roxie’s love of people has made her a great therapy dog, with past visits to hospitals, schools and senior centers with Monica. But it may have overrun her competitive drive. One fellow senior did manage to saunter to the finish line, lured by treats along the fence by cheering onlookers. “And after a lot of coaxing, Roxie made it too."


Monica's video featuring Roxie
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