City partners with developer to boost storage capacity
Huntington Beach, Calif., recently dedicated the Edwards Hill Water Reservoir and Booster Station, which expanded the city’s storage capacity by 20 percent. The new facility helps the city — which uses 32 million gallons of water per day — meet storage needs identified in its 2000 Water Master Plan.
The city planned the Edwards Hill facility as part of a residential development in the Holly Seacliff area. It contracted with the developer, Newport Beach, Calif.-based PLC Land, to incorporate a water reservoir and booster station that would serve 2,000 new homes, an elementary school and a commercial center.
In addition to meeting storage requirements, the new facility had to be durable and in keeping aesthetically with the surrounding area. It can be seen by residents in both the Holly Seacliff and Edwards Hill communities.
Those concerns led the city to select a prestressed, concrete tank for the reservoir. The 9-million-gallon tank, designed by Irvine, Calif.-based Sidawi & Associates and constructed by El Cajon, Calif.-based DYK, requires no coatings (it has a protective shotcrete covercoat) and minimal maintenance. It was designed with special seismic connections at the wall base and top.
The contractor partially buried the tank — which is 213 feet in diameter and 34 feet deep — and covered it with a flat, concrete roof, resulting in a low-profile structure. Only 15 feet of it is visible above grade, and that portion is adorned with architectural treatments such as arches, columns and modest reveals.
The booster pump station, constructed by Corona, Calif.-based Schuler Engineering, completes the Edwards Hill facility. It consists of seven units with combined capacity of 9,750 gallons per minute. Using primarily unmanned equipment, the station is monitored electronically by City Water Operations personnel.
Completed last October, the Edwards Hill project cost $8.8 million. The city paid 40 percent of the cost with water capital facility charges, and the developer paid the remaining 60 percent.
