The City of San Luis Obispo has completed its largest infrastructure project to date—a $140 million water reclamation facility aimed at improving efficiency, sustainability and climate resilience.
The decade-long SLO Water Plus project modernized the city’s Water Resource Recovery Facility, which now treats more than 4.5 million gallons of wastewater every day. The upgraded systems are designed to use 80% fewer treatment chemicals and produce cleaner water for local creeks and groundwater.
City officials say the facility was built to withstand California’s increasingly extreme weather, from floods to wildfires. The site includes new floodwalls, elevated structures, and an expanded stormwater pond to manage heavier rains. It also features backup power systems that can keep the plant running for days during outages.
“The project has a pretty extensive stormwater flood protection element,” said Chris Lehman, the city’s deputy director of wastewater. “We want to make sure this is a facility that's going to be operational in extreme weather conditions, with sufficient backup power and protection for any flooding events that we might see.”
Lehman said the improvements were long overdue. The last major upgrade was in 1995, and much of the original equipment had reached the end of its lifespan. The new facility replaces aging systems while also supporting the city’s long-term sustainability goals.
The project began in 2015, with construction starting in 2019, just months before the COVID-19 pandemic.
City staff are now working to fine-tune the new systems and explore options to expand onsite energy generation in the future. Officials say the facility will serve as a hub for research, staff training and public education on sustainable water management.
Tours of the upgraded facility are open to the public through slowater.org.
