A joint venture between Jacobs and McCarthy has been awarded a $160m contract to enhance groundwater desalination capacity in Southern California. This project aims to address the challenges of seawater contamination in groundwater due to excessive extraction in the early 20th century.

The project, commissioned by the Water Replenishment District (WRD) of Southern Los Angeles County, will benefit 4 million residents, including parts of the City of Los Angeles. Jacobs and McCarthy will expand the Robert W. Goldsworthy Desalter Facility to increase its capacity by up to 9 million gallons of potable water per day, serving the 88,000 residents of Torrance by 2027.

The upgrade will involve implementing nano filtration and reverse osmosis membrane technology to remove salts from the extracted groundwater. Additionally, new groundwater extraction wells and raw water pipelines will be constructed.

This contract is part of WRD’s "Brackish Groundwater Reclamation Program," a response to aquifers that were contaminated due to unregulated pumping before WRD’s establishment in 1959. The excessive pumping had depleted the fresh water table below sea level, allowing seawater to infiltrate.

"As water resources in the West are increasingly strained, advanced water treatment technologies are providing excellent solutions for communities like Torrance to ensure a sustainable and resilient water supply," remarked Sagrado Sparks, Vice President of McCarthy's Water Group.