Water reuse solutions for Southern California’s drinking water challenges
February 10, 2026
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Creating potable water in inland California isn’t easy. But a dedicated client and an experienced team deliver.
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In this series, we’ll explore the power of collaboration and co-creation with our clients. These partnerships showcase how we rise to the world’s greatest challenges together.
Consuming clean water is easy.
You turn on the tap without thinking, and water is there when you need it.
But providing clean, reliable drinking water is challenging. Especially for drought-prone areas like Southern California. A lot of Southern California’s drinking water is piped in from northern areas of the state, through California’s state water project.
Municipal agencies can apply to receive a certain percentage of water, but the share is not always guaranteed. Agencies can receive as little as 5 percent of their requested allotment.
That’s not sustainable. So, what’s the solution?
Water reuse. Treating and repurposing wastewater for public consumption.
“In California, reverse osmosis is mandatory for any potable water reuse project,” says Zakir Hirani, vice president, water reuse practice leader. “That’s a filtration technique that separates water from contaminants. And it produces brine, which needs to be disposed of.”
That’s easy for coastal facilities because they can dispose of the brine into the ocean.
" }The Stantec team wants to bring the best value to us, and I can sense that.
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Inland issues
For communities without easy access to the ocean, it’s more challenging.
Take the Antelope Valley. Located in Los Angeles County, 80 kilometres from the ocean, it receives less than 150 milllimetres of rainfall per year.
Water reuse would bring much needed reliability to their drinking water supply. But piping the brine 50 miles (80 kilometres) to the ocean is too costly. And building and maintaining brine ponds is also cost prohibitive.
The solution? The Palmdale Water District partnered with our team to create California’s first inland potable reuse program.
“We’re recycling water to make it potable and then putting it back in the ground,” says Scott Rogers, assistant general manager of the Palmdale Water District. "We can then pull the water out at a later date when we need it.”
We developed a brine management strategy that uses a high-recovery reverse osmosis system to reduce brine volume. This reduces the size of the brine ponds.
And this will help supplement the district's water supply during times of drought.
“The water’s generated locally so it’s more sustainable,” Hirani says. “And the treatment and injection process all takes place on a 4-hectare lot. Everything happens locally.”
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Scott Rogers and Zakir Hirani
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Providing peace of mind
When working with our team, Palmdale is getting a partner with decades of experience.
“Stantec has worked on potable water reuse projects across the state. Bringing that expertise and lessons learned is invaluable to the district,” Rogers says. “They see the value in rigorous planning—making decisions when we need to make decisions and holding back when necessary to get more data.”
It’s that wide knowledge base that helps elevate our relationship with clients like the Palmdale Water District.
“It’s more than technical expertise for treatment design,” Hirani says. “Scott’s team is small. We’re providing program management services to help augment their staff. We have funding experts that understand federal and state grant programs. We have public outreach staff that can create strategy for public acceptance and regulatory experts to help follow environmental regulations.”
Treating wastewater for consumption is a solution that can face public resistance. But our public outreach team has been clear and thorough in our communication efforts. Thus far, the project has not faced any significant opposition.
“The Stantec team wants to bring the best value to us, and I can sense that,” Rogers says. “Something I’ve always appreciated is being able to call program managers and get a response right away. That’s critical for us. Our expectations are high and Stantec has always delivered.”
With every community, we redefine what’s possible. Through collaboration with our clients, together we will unlock outcomes neither could achieve alone.
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