When one thinks of desalination plants, they are generally connected directly to the ocean.

But on June 11, groundbreaking took place for an expanded desalination effort a few miles inland in Torrance. The purpose: to take salt out of groundwater contaminated through ocean water intrusion.

The $187 million project to expand an existing desalination plant is being spearheaded by the city of Torrance and the Lakewood-based Water Replenishment District of Southern California. Dallas-based Jacobs Solutions Inc. is the principal designer for the expansion project and St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Cos. is the primary builder.

The Robert Goldsworthy Groundwater Desalter plant originally opened in Torrance in 2001 to remove salt from local groundwater – primarily through reverse osmosis – to make it usable for drinking and irrigation.

Doubling water quantity

This expansion project is designed to roughly double the amount of water from this plume that is cleansed to a new total of about 7,100 acre-feet annually, or 2.3 billion gallons. According to a formula used by the state as of last December, that amount can supply the annual water needs of at least 15,000 single-family homes.

To date, the Water Replenishment District of Southern California has raised about $82 million toward the project.

Completion of this phase of the project is now set for late 2028, with the expanded capacity coming fully online by early 2029.