The Stone Canyon Pumping and Filtration plant , designed by Black & Veatch, is now under construction within the southern California community of Bel Air. Black & Veatch is based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
The project is a major component of the larger Stone Canyon Water Quality Improvement Project undertaken by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) in the Stone Canyon Reservoir Complex. The complex consists of the Upper and Lower Stone Canyon Reservoirs, located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains. Both reservoirs store treated drinking water and are open to the air, allowing surface water runoff to enter the reservoirs and provide a pathway for potential contamination.
The design incorporates microfiltration to remove potential contaminants from the Lower Stone Canyon Reser-voir water and ensure compliance with safe drinking water standards. The plant will treat surface water through membrane filtration along with chemical disinfection before it enters the distribution system to meet all federal and state surface water treatment requirements.
Black & Veatch worked with the LADWP public outreach program and incorporated special features to alleviate community concerns in the facility design. The plant will be recessed in a valley, below the left abutment of Lower Stone Canyon Dam, nestled over the existing reservoir outlet. All visible elements were architecturally enhanced to give the appearance of sculpture versus structure, and the building footprint was designed to curve around existing trees, according to Black & Veatch.