Hyperion 2021 Recovery

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BACKGROUND:

On Sunday, July 11, 2021, the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant suffered a devastating flood that resulted in the overflow of untreated wastewater into Santa Monica Bay.

Normally, untreated wastewater from a network of City of Los Angeles and nearby cities’ sewers flows to Hyperion. At the plant, preliminary treatment begins at the Headworks Facility where untreatable debris is removed. After the preliminary treatment, the water is further treated through several processes, and eventually either discharged through the plant’s Five-Mile Outfall into the Santa Monica Bay or directed to a water recycling facility for advanced treatment and reuse. (You can learn more about Hyperion’s general operations here).

On the afternoon of July 11, Hyperion’s Headworks facility experienced a catastrophic backup, resulting in untreated wastewater flooding first the Headworks Facility and ultimately much of the entire plant. The flooding wastewater flowed into the plant’s stormwater drain system, and, from there, overflowed into the plant’s One-Mile Outfall. An estimated 17 million gallons of wastewater (representing six percent of an average daily load) overflowed the storm drain system into the One-Mile Outfall. A portion of this wastewater was pumped back from the One-Mile Outfall to the plant for treatment after the incident, and therefore is not believed to have entered the Bay.

The nearly catastrophic flooding of the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant resulted in significant areas of the plant being submerged under untreated wastewater and major damage to equipment and processes that treat and clean wastewater. City of Los Angeles forces and contractors worked around the clock to pump wastewater out of inundated facilities, sanitize facilities and equipment, and mitigate hazardous conditions inside the facilities caused by the flooding.

If you missed our presentation on the morning of August 5, 2021 at Los Angeles City Council's ECCEJ&R Committee meeting regarding the incident at Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant, you can download a copy here.

If you missed our presentation on the morning of August 10, 2021 at the Los Angeles City Council meeting regarding the incident at Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant, you can download a copy here.

Please click here to read LASAN's 30-Day Report submitted to RWQCB and USEPA.

If you're interested in knowing how Hyperion's eight (8) bar screens work, please take a few minutes to watch this brief video.

If you missed the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works Town Hall discussion on the evening of August 18, 2021 regarding the incident at Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant, you can download the presentation here and watch the Zoom recording here.

Please note that our understanding of this incident continues to evolve. Please visit this page frequently to read updates about Hyperion's recovery process.

Click here to receive email notifications for elevated levels of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) at the fence line of the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant.



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RECOVERY UPDATES:
As part of our ongoing efforts to restore Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant operations to normal conditions, we are sharing Effluent Quality Data for the 5 Mile Outfall as well as a list of Critical Process Equipment in the spreadsheet below, in two tabs. Updates will be provided regularly.

For the latest information from AQMD about air quality, please visit their website.