Water Treatment

Foothill
Water Treatment Plant

Buckeye
Water Treatment Plant

    The Sacramento River is the surface water source for the City's Foothill Water Treatment Plant - a 24 million gallon per day (mgd) plant with expansion capabilities of 42 mgd. Two water lines - 30 inches and 18 inches in diameter - convey raw water from the river to the Foothill Plant. Prior to 1981, the treatment facility included pre-chlorination, alum and lime feed, mechanical flocculation and post chlorination. With the passage of a water bond in the late 70's, a dual media filtration facility and a 6 mgd storage reservoir were constructed. At the same time, the capacity of the City's primary pumping facility on the river (Pump House #1) was increased from 18,000 gallons per minute to 24,000 gallons per minute. In 1987, Pump House #1 was upgraded to a capacity 32,000 gallons per minute.

    The Foothill Water Treatment Plant is considered a conventional treatment facility. Conventional treatment includes such necessary steps as Pre-treatment, Coagulation and Flocculation, Sedimentation, Filtration and Chlorination. These steps are necessary to remove impurities from the water and ensure potable water for the citizens of Redding.

    Whiskeytown Lake is the surface water source for the City's Buckeye Water Treatment Plant - a 7 million gallon per day (mgd) plant with expansion capabilities of 28 mgd. A 36 inch diameter water line carries raw water from the lake to the Buckeye Plant. This is a gravity fed system, hence there is no need for a pumping facility. Constructed between 1993 and 1995, the plant became operational in May 1995. As a conventional treatment facility, the Buckeye Water Treatment Plant includes a chemical feed system, two flocculation basins, two sedimentation basins, four gravity filtration units, a washwater recovery system and three sludge lagoons. In addition, the Buckeye Treatment Plant houses state of the art system and process controls which allow remote operation from the City's Foothill Treatment facility.

    The construction of this gravity fed treatment plant eliminated the need to pump water from the Foothill plant into the northwest portion of the City's service area - an efficient and cost effective move. It also provided an additional source of water to serve the system.