Article Masthead

  • Category: Projects
  • Topic: Advanced Water Purification / Groundwater Recharge
  • Region: North America
  • Signal Type: Design-Build Award / Advanced Water Reuse
  • Published Date: 2026-10-12
  • Original Source Date: 2026-10-12

01 What Happened

Consolidated Water announced on October 12 that its U.S. subsidiary, PERC Water Corporation, has been awarded an approximately USD 39.8 million design-build agreement by the City of Pismo Beach, California, for the Central Coast Blue Advanced Water Purification Facility.

The approved scope provides approximately 750 acre-feet/year of purified-water production. The announced treatment train includes ultrafiltration (UF), three-stage reverse osmosis (RO), and ultraviolet advanced oxidation (UV-AOP), together with equalization, purified-water storage, chemical storage and feed systems, pumping, pipelines, electrical and control systems.

The groundwater-recharge scope includes one injection well and two monitoring wells. PERC Water will also provide design, construction, testing, operator training, startup and commissioning support. The overall delivery period is expected to be about 24 months, with construction anticipated to begin in spring 2027.

Central Coast Blue will take water already treated at the Pismo Beach wastewater plant, purify it further, and inject it into the Santa Maria Groundwater Basin for storage and later use.

02 Key Takeaways

01 The project has moved into contracted delivery with an approximately USD 39.8 million award.

02 The treatment sequence is UF → three-stage RO → UV-AOP → groundwater recharge.

03 Design production is about 750 acre-feet/year; construction is expected in spring 2027 with roughly 24 months of delivery.

04 The project combines water reuse with aquifer protection and drought resilience.

03 Why It Matters

Central Coast Blue is a clear example of potable reuse becoming a mainstream water-supply asset rather than a demonstration project. The engineering objective is not simply to produce high-quality recycled water; it is to place that water into a groundwater basin in a way that supports long-term supply reliability.

UF provides a particulate and microbial barrier ahead of high-pressure membranes. Three-stage RO provides broad dissolved-contaminant rejection, while UV-AOP supplies an additional advanced-treatment barrier for trace organic compounds. Groundwater injection adds storage and an environmental-buffer function to the overall system.

The project also illustrates the full complexity of advanced reuse: treatment, chemical systems, storage, controls, conveyance, recharge wells, monitoring wells, commissioning and regulatory coordination must function as one integrated system.

04 ATLAS Engineering View

ATLAS sees three engineering questions as especially important. First, RO recovery and concentrate management will strongly affect the real water balance; purified-water output alone does not describe feed flow, concentrate volume, chemical use or energy intensity.

Second, UV-AOP performance depends on upstream RO quality. UV transmittance, peroxide dose, radical scavenging and target-compound kinetics need to be controlled together.

Third, groundwater recharge adds a hydrogeologic design layer. Injection rate, aquifer response, monitoring-well placement, pressure behavior and protection against seawater intrusion matter alongside treatment performance.

For ATLAS, Central Coast Blue is a useful reference for the full chain: secondary effluent → membrane pretreatment → RO → advanced oxidation → storage → aquifer recharge → future water supply.

05 Sources

Image Source and Usage Notice

Feature image is a real Central Coast Blue project photo showing pilot-plant reverse-osmosis equipment. The photo is credited by KCBX to the City of Pismo Beach. This package references the KCBX-hosted image remotely and does not redistribute a local copy. The image documents the earlier demonstration/pilot phase and should not be presented as a photograph of the final full-scale facility covered by the 2026 design-build contract.

Source: KCBX — Central Coast Blue pilot plant reverse osmosis filters Credit: City of Pismo Beach. City website terms: City of Pismo Beach — Terms of Use.