Cedars-Sinai Gets Huge Rebates for Groundwater Reuse

LOS ANGELES, CA — City leaders and officials with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power praised Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Thursday for its efforts to reuse groundwater and presented with a $155,355 rebate check.

"Los Angeles is changing how we think about water, by rewarding those who conserve," Mayor Erc Garcetti said. "At a moment when climate change and drought are becoming the new normal, the Cedars-Sinai treatment facility shows how property owners can help us better withstand the effects -- through a strong commitment to conservation and sustainable design."

LADWP said that groundwater runs under the area in West L.A. where the Cedars Sinai Medical Center campus sits and must be diverted in order to maintain the structural safety of the buildings above it. Cedars-Sinai installed a recycling system to reuse the groundwater instead of discharging it to the sewer, and the system now provides 50-80 percent of the water used by Cedars-Sinai's cooling towers, offsetting the need for using drinking water, LADWP said.

"Cedars-Sinai is proudly committed to water conservation, and our Ground Water Re-Use System has taken this to a new level," Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Richard B. Jacobs said. "Large institutions and companies have a vital role to play in the environmental health of our city, and we are so pleased to do our part. We look forward to working with Mayor Garcetti, LADWP and Metropolitan to advance this important agenda in the years ahead."

The rebate check was presented to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center through the Technical Assistance Program, which offers rebates for the installation of water saving projects and equipments. Cedars-Sinai also is set to receive about $168,000 from Metropolitan's Water Savings Incentive Program.

"Metropolitan is looking for opportunities to save water everywhere, in homes, businesses, factories and farms," said Brad Coffey, manager of Metropolitan's Water Resource Management Group. "We have a host of incentives and rebates to help anyone who has an idea or project to use water more efficiently, from individuals who want to replace their grass with California native plants, to commercial facilities, like Cedars, that want to install innovative technologies."

City News Service; Shutterstock