Facilities in Focus

A Look Into Your Water Infrastructure

Behind every drop of water delivered to our customers is a complex water treatment, storage and distribution system.

Facilities in Focus is a monthly series that spotlights some of the facilities ACWD has invested in over the decades and invites customers to take a look into their water infrastructure. Through fast facts, customers can learn more about ACWD's investments to ensure a reliable supply of high-quality drinking water is available 24/7.

PFAS Groundwater Treatment Facility

ACWD’s $23 million PFAS Groundwater Treatment Facility removes PFAS from local Peralta-Tyson Wellfield and Mowry Wellfield groundwater, improving water quality. The facility treats 6 million gallons of water every day using ion exchange and is a significant step toward ensuring ACWD’s continued commitment to providing water that meets or exceeds all drinking standards.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, abbreviated as PFAS, are a group of synthetic chemicals widely used in consumer and industrial products. Their long-lasting makeup has impacted many water supply sources worldwide and their ubiquitous presence in the environment has required water agencies of all sizes to address their effects on water quality. The facility opened in July 2024 and took 20 months to construct.

Alameda Reservoir

Constructed in 1972, the Alameda Reservoir in South Fremont is a potable water reservoir that has received recent improvements. With an investment of over $18.3 million, the Alameda Roof Replacement Project involved:

Replacing and strengthening the roof structure.
Adding ventilation fans and interior lighting.
Making other site and safety improvements.

The newly improved, seismically retrofitted roof, covers a facility that can store 16 million gallons of water and benefits customers by providing improved water quality, emergency and fire flow storage, and seismic reliability.

Driscoll Road Main Renewal Project

ACWD's more than 900 miles of water mains comprise an intricate underground water distribution system that transports water to homes and businesses. The Driscoll Road Main Renewal Project, a $15 million investment, will seismically upgrade 60-year-old water mains and improve post-earthquake water restoration. It is one of many capital projects in the Main Renewal and Seismic Improvement Program.

Located in a high-traffic area on Driscoll Road south of Mission Boulevard, this 1.5-mile pipeline upgrade services a school, businesses and many homes. It requires traffic control, coordinated logistics, circumnavigating underground utilities, and Saturday work to minimize traffic impacts.

When completed in June 2025, the project will improve water supply reliability for customers in the area who have patiently cooperated while we improve the community's infrastructure.

Alameda Creek Fish Passage Improvements Program

For more than two decades, two dozen project partners, interested parties and regulatory agencies worked together to imagine and build fish passage facilities that would open access to lower Alameda Creek to migratory fish.

The seven projects in total include fish screens, diversion pipelines, rubber dam improvements, and two fish ladders.

As Alameda Creek trail goers pass the BART tracks along the creek west of Niles Community Park in Fremont, they will see the largest fish ladder, measuring nearly 625 feet. As one of the most complex fish ladders in the country, the RD1 Fish Ladder allows fish to swim past an inflatable rubber dam and drop structure.

ACWD uses state-of-the-art monitoring equipment, including passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag antennas and sonar cameras to track fish using the new ladder. Since January 1, 2024, over 50 tagged juvenile steelhead trout have been detected in the fish ladder. These trout were tagged by other monitoring programs further upstream in the watershed. These detections are a positive sign that the once abundant steelhead trout are using these new facilities for improved migratory passage through Alameda Creek as part of their natural lifecycle. In addition to steelhead trout, other species of interest that have been identified using the ladder include Chinook salmon and Pacific lamprey.

Central Newark - Thornton Avenue Main Renewal Project

The Central Newark—Thornton Avenue Main Renewal Project is one of several projects in ACWD's Main Renewal and Seismic Improvements Program. The District continues to invest rate dollars into infrastructure that improves water supply reliability during seismic events. This project replaces 5,200 feet of cement pip with new welded steel pipelines, reducing the threat of future breaks and leaks.

The $10 million upgrades involve complex work through a major thoroughfare in Newark, with work expected to be completed by summer 2025.