ORINDA – The East Bay Municipal Utility District’s newest $325 million addition to the Orinda Water Treatment Plant centers around a high-tech plan to use ultraviolet light as the primary decontamination strategy to combat rising organic matter found in the Mokelumne watershed.

The project seeks to protect against future increases in run-off, flooding and water temperatures that lead to more pathogens, viruses and natural organic matter. When organic matter is treated with chlorine, it can create harmful byproducts, known as trihalomethanes (THMs), which can impact human health.

The Orinda Water Treatment Plant was the first building commissioned by EBMUD in 1935, and it has historically treated raw water from the Mokelumne watershed using chlorine decontamination to kill bacteria and vi

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