City Receives $16M to Help Design & Build a Salt Removal Facility

Published on July 01, 2021

As part of the City’s sustainability initiatives, Palo Alto signed a partnership agreement between Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water) and the City of Mountain View in December 2019 to advance resilient water reuse programs in Santa Clara County. The agreement grants Valley Water an option to take approximately half of the wastewater (effluent) from the Regional Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP). Valley Water intends to purify the effluent and use it to recharge the groundwater basin south of Mountain View. The 76-year agreement includes an initial $16 million option payment for Valley Water to hold half the effluent from the RWQCP, which was presented to the Cities of Palo Alto and Mountain View on June 18, 2021.

The $16 million will partially fund the design and building of a small salt removal facility at the treatment plant to improve the quality of existing recycled water. The facility includes reverse osmosis water that will be blended with our current recycled water to reduce the salt content in the recycled water. The salt removal facility is currently being designed and construction is anticipated to commence summer 2023. By improving our use of recycled water, we are reducing our reliance on imported water.

 For more information about Palo Alto’s sustainability efforts, please visit

cityofpaloalto.org/sustainability