The Lancaster Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) is located at 1865 West Avenue "D" in the City of Lancaster and occupies 554 acres east of the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway. The plant was placed in operation on September 24, 1959, with an initial capacity of 6.5 million gallons per day. It replaced a previous plant which was located on Avenue H between 20th and 30th Streets West. This original plant began operation on December 2, 1941.

CURRENT OPERATION:
The Lancaster WRP provides primary and secondary treatment (aerated oxidation ponds) for 16 million gallons of wastewater per day (see flow diagram below). The Lancaster WRP plant serves a population of approximately 160,000 people. In addition to producing reclaimed water, the Lancaster WRP processes all wastewater solids generated at the plant. The wastewater solids are anaerobically digested and spread onto concrete lined drying beds for dewatering/drying. The dried biosolids are hauled away and beneficially reused. Methane gas is produced during the digestion process and is used to fuel the boiler used to heat the anaerobic digesters.

The Lancaster WRP also supports two small tertiary treatment facilities that provide additional levels of treatment for specific water recycling applications. The Antelope Valley Tertiary Treatment Plant uses chemical coagulation and dual-media filtration to remove additional amounts of phosphorus from the reclaimed water used at the Apollo Lakes Regional Park, while the Membrane Bioreactor plant uses membrane technology and ultraviolet disinfection to produce tertiary treated reclaimed water for municipal and irrigation use.

On average, 3 million gallons per day of the Lancaster WRP effluent is reused at a local farm for irrigation of alfalfa and nearly 3 million gallons per day are sent to Piute Ponds to maintain 200 acres of wetlands as a wildlife refuge. Approximately 0.5 million gallons per day of water from the Antelope Valley Tertiary Treatment Plant are reused at the Apollo Lakes Regional Park during most of the year to maintain the water level in the lakes and for irrigation. Over 1 million gallons per day from the Membrane Bioreactor plant are used for growing fodder crops and for other reuse managed by the City of Lancaster.