Huge Apple Campus 2 Recycled Water Project Gets Approved

A huge recycle water project that will benefit Apple Campus 2 and Cupertino has been approved by the Santa Clara Valley Water District board. The project will cost $17.5 million and will pump more reclaimed water in Sunnyvale and introduce it to neighboring Cupertino through Apple's Campus 2, reports Mercury News.

Katherine Oven, deputy operating officer of the water district said "Apple drove this project. It really is a true partnership of both public and private agencies."

The drought in California is intensifying and so recycled water is becoming increasing popular. For example, Levi's Stadium, is already using recycled water to flush toilets and keep the playing field green.


Workers will lay 13,300 feet of recycled water pipeline to take water from Sunnyvale's water recycling facility to new locations. A booster pump station will be constructed to increase pressure for sites at the end of the line, like Apple. Eventually the pipeline will be able to pump 10 million gallons of water per day. That's 25% of the recycled water expected to flow through the South Bay, with the exception of cities like Gilroy and Morgan Hill.

Only 3% of the pipeline's capacity will be devoted to Apple but it's already committed $4.8 million (~27%) to the project. It's the only company so far who has committed any funds. The rest of the bill is being paid for by the city of Sunnyvale, the California Water Service Company, the Department of Water Resources and the water district.

Frank Loge, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis, notes that "Apple is essentially creating a new water supply for the city. Now that water is available to the city to repurpose in some other way."

Construction is set to begin this August and should be complete by October 2016.


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