The San Bernardino Municipal Water Department has operated the Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) since 1973. The WRP is a 33 MGD Regional Secondary Treatment facility that provides trusted, quality wastewater treatment services for the City of San Bernardino, Loma Linda, East Valley, San Bernardino International Airport, Patton State Hospital, and unincorporated San Bernardino County areas. The WRP is staffed continuously by a select team of certified operators and mechanics who utilize modern wastewater treatment processes to maintain compliance with required discharge limits.

Primary and secondary treatment processes are employed to meet the discharge standards specified in the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Permit (NPDES) issued to the WRP by the State of California Regional Water Quality Control Board. Secondary treated wastewater from the WRP discharges to an offsite tertiary treatment facility operated jointly by the cities of San Bernardino and Colton.

The Rapid Infiltration and Extraction (RIX) facility receives approximately 33 MGD of secondary treated wastewater from the WRP and Colton's treatment facility. Natural bio-filtration is employed through the use of percolation basins and ultra-violet disinfection is used to meet the State of California Title 22 tertiary standards, in addition to the discharge standards specified in a separate NPDES permit issued to the RIX facility. RIX treated wastewater consistently meets or exceeds required discharge standards and is often superior in quality to effluent produced through conventional tertiary facilities.

The WRP is committed to reusing the resources generated during the wastewater treatment processes. The WRP recently completed the installation of a co-generation facility which uses the methane gas produced during the treatment processes as a source of energy. This highly valuable energy source is used to fuel two 750-watt generators which supply electricity to the WRP. This minimizes the amount of electricity required to be purchased for the operation of the WRP.

The use of reclaimed water and the generation of electricity exemplify the trusted, quality service provided by the WRP as we continuously search for new and improved methods to maintain compliance with required discharge limits and conserve our natural resources.

For information on the water reclamation plant operator training program, view the following: Introduction Program Details

Contact/Questions