According to a recent assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey, 30 million Americans live in areas where surface water supply struggles to meet demand. Additional research suggests that without intervention major metro areas such as Denver, Phoenix and Los Angeles are expected to face water shortages in the next decade. 

“Clean, safe water is essential to life, and municipalities require reliable, experienced partners to help deliver it,” says Ankur Talwar, district manager of PCL Construction’s Civil Infrastructure Division in the western United States. 

The situation is serious, but not insurmountable. Across the country, communities are tapping into the environmental principles of “reduce, reuse, recycle” — or, in the case of water infrastructure, “reclaim, reuse, recycle” — to build future-proof facilities that will provide safe drinking water for the next generation.

Water reclamation is the process of treating municipal wastewater and water used in industrial processes so it can be safely reused for a variety of purposes. For example, reclaimed water used for irrigation or landscaping does not need to meet the same standards as drinking water and can often be treated to a lower threshold, conserving higher quality sources for essential uses. 

Water reclamation is especially critical in areas with limited access to freshwater such as Treasure Island, located in the San Francisco Bay. It is a 393-acre engineered island currently undergoing redevelopment to include restaurants, storefronts and up to 8,000 new homes. This redevelopment is expected to bring an increase of nearly 20,000 new residents by 2036, significantly increasing the demand for water.   

PCL Construction is building the Treasure Island Water Resource Recovery Facility to meet the island’s growing wastewater treatment needs and create a more sustainable future for the island. 

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