San Jose Water Company (SJWC) provides drinking water for over a million people in the greater San Jose Metropolitan region and is a recognized leader in drinking water treatment and distribution system water quality management. Cleanwater1 has partnered with SJWC on numerous projects over the last several years ranging from on-site sodium hypochlorite generation to tank and reservoir water quality management. With over 90 water storage facilities in service, planned maintenance and rehabilitation of capital assets is a key component of SJWC’s CIP program. The aging Belgatos Reservoirs are located on top of a seismic fault and are slated for replacement by two 2.3-million-gallon water reservoirs. The existing and proposed reservoirs are situated approximately half a mile from the distribution system and share a common inlet/outlet line that splits to service each tank.
The design of the new reservoirs posed a unique challenge as the Department of Drinking Water (DDW) in California requires dedicated inlet and outlet lines for any new reservoir in an effort to maintain water quality by avoiding “short-circuiting” within a tank. However, the seismic considerations combined with the proposed location of the new Belgatos Reservoirs would have made the addition of dedicated inlet/outlet lines for each tank costly from an engineering and construction perspective.