Long Beach secures $1.1 million in federal funding for ongoing water treatment upgrades

Every day, 4 million to 6 million gallons of water pass through Long Beach’s aging water filters before flowing to city faucets.

All 10 of the sand filters, which remove iron from the water, were installed in 1969. With their age in mind, the city has embarked on a multiyear, multimillion-dollar project to replace them.

Two of the new filters already have been installed and will soon be in service, city officials said. And the city has begun Phase 2 of the project, taking on the design of the next four replacement filters.

“They're aging out of their natural life span,” Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) said in an interview. “And if they're not replaced, there's a real threat to the safety and the quality of the drinking water that would impact the residents of the City of Long Beach.”

Gillen said she helped the city secure $1.1 million in federal community project funding to partially pay for the second phase of the project.

The cylindrical filters measure about 20 feet long by 8 feet wide. Long Beach Public Works Commissioner Kenneth Arnold said each one costs about $900,000 to replace, with the total cost of replacing all 10 expected to be between $9 million and $10 million. 

At any given time, four to six filters are operating, Arnold said. The system was designed so two filters could be taken offline for repair and two would still be available as backup in case of an emergency, he said.

The need to replace the aging infrastructure is urgent, Arnold said. This kind of equipment typically has a life span of about 30 years, he said.

“Based on their life expectancy, there could be a catastrophic failure,” Arnold said. “The city is doing its due diligence, started a program to replace these filters so we would never be in a position where we would have multiple catastrophic failures.”

The city gets its water from the Lloyd Aquifer.

“The Lloyd Aquifer has an iron content that you have to remove to distribute to the public,” Arnold said.

Water passes through the sand filtration system in a matter of minutes, and the filters are regularly flushed and maintained.

The city included funds in its capital plan to replace two filters for Phase 2, city spokesman John McNally said.

“We currently are designing for four filters because we're hoping to get a second grant and we don't want to go back to the designer and have them do it again,” Arnold said.

The project will include a Phase 3 for the remaining filters, Arnold said, and is expected to be completed in five years.