Project Background
The City of Benicia provides water service for residential, commercial, light industrial and industrial customers within its service area. The Valero Benicia Refinery (Refinery) is located within the City’s service area and City provides the Refinery with untreated raw water for various industrial processes, including cooling tower make-up water and boiler feed water.
In a non-drought year, the City’s annual average water demand is approximately 10,000 acre-feet (AF). Residential customers, municipal uses, and commercial and light industrial users represent approximately half of the demand and the remaining half is from the Valero Benicia Refinery.
The City’s water is a blended supply from the State Water Project (SWP) and the federal Solano Project. The City has the ability to store/bank raw water in Lake Herman (City-owned) and in Lake Berryessa (federal Solano Project facility) and draw from that supply as needed. In a normal, non-drought year, the SWP supplies 75 to 85% of the City’s demand and the Solano Project supplies the remaining 15% to 25% of the demand.
In a non-drought year, the City’s annual average water demand is approximately 10,000 acre-feet (AF). Residential customers, municipal uses, and commercial and light industrial users represent approximately half of the demand and the remaining half is from the Valero Benicia Refinery.
The City’s water is a blended supply from the State Water Project (SWP) and the federal Solano Project. The City has the ability to store/bank raw water in Lake Herman (City-owned) and in Lake Berryessa (federal Solano Project facility) and draw from that supply as needed. In a normal, non-drought year, the SWP supplies 75 to 85% of the City’s demand and the Solano Project supplies the remaining 15% to 25% of the demand.
Figure 1. City of Benicia’s Current Water Supply Program
Due to the current drought and the uncertainty of long-term reliability of the City’s current water supplies, in 2015 the City began to study the feasibility of producing and delivering approximately 2.0 million gallons per day (MGD) (about 2000 AFY) of recycled water to the Refinery for use as cooling tower makeup water, and to other City customers for non-potable uses (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Future City of Benicia’s Water Supply Program with a Recycled Water Project