Fort Irwin Water Works: A Man-Made Oasis in No Man’s Land

Subject to encroaching deserts and punishing drought, service members training at Fort Irwin expect challenging conditions; finding an ample supply of safe drinking water should never be one of them.

On average, Fort Irwin’s population can vary from 15,000 to 20,000 soldiers, civilians and family members, depending on the number of visiting soldiers there for training. Fort Irwin covers about 1,000 square miles—almost the size of the state of Rhode Island—and serves as the National Training Center for realistic desert warfare, including numerous training “cities,” identical to urban theaters in desert regions around the world.

Located midway between Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, California, the closest metro area is almost 35 miles away from the installation. The base is surrounded by high desert hills and mountains, so the area sees gorgeous sunsets, blue skies and sunny days, but with minimal plant and animal life, the landscape is as sparse as the water supply. Soldiers and civilians are subject to droughts, wildfires, winds, floods and temperatures ranging from below freezing in the winter to above 110 degrees in the summer. All this and only slightly over four inches of rain annually, makes Fort Irwin a challenging place to supply with plentiful, safe drinking water.

To save precious water in this arid desert region, the U.S. Army turned to Jacobs to design a new Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) water treatment plant, the Irwin Water Works (IWW). The IWW can process up to 6-million-gallons of water daily (mgd), removing naturally occurring contaminants in the base’s groundwater, such as fluoride and arsenic.

In a Water Utility Privatization partnership, Jacobs is working alongside our government stakeholders to allocate ownership of the water and wastewater facilities. The plant runs around the clock, with a team of 20 full-time operations staff, supplemented by engineers, scientists, designers and construction managers. This partnership between Jacobs and the U.S. Army now saves more than 280 million gallons of water yearly over the previous technology.

Continuous drought conditions—worsening yearly—place enormous pressure on water and water treatment systems. Water is hard to find; achieving Army Net Zero water usage standards seemed out of reach. When Jacobs began working with Fort Irwin to solve their water problems, the client expected the plant to process six mgd, expandable to twelve mgd over time. However, given the efficiency of the new IWW water treatment plant, combined with the use of recycled water, the plant was capped at six mgd. 

The plant is both environmentally friendly and features innovative energy efficiencies. IWW achieved Leadership in Energy Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification, and Jacobs saved the client more than $66,000 by participating in the Southern California Edison Savings by Design energy incentive program. We specified solar panels for the roof of the Control Building and solar site lighting for the IWW complex. We provided extensive use of automation, innovative data collection and management systems and “off-peak” operation, reducing energy consumption and costs.

Through innovative design and construction methods, leveraging Jacobs’ expertise in sustainable water and wastewater treatment, we developed a plan to address low and variable water supply, significantly extending the lifespan. We also exceeded Net Zero, maintaining compliance with the Clean Water Act, the Sustainable Drinking Water Act and a host of California regulations—some of the most stringent policies in the country. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), with team members from Mobile District, Sacramento District, South Pacific Division and the USACE Engineer Research and Development Center, supported the project.

When addressing the effects of climate change, access to potable water, especially in arid areas, may be among the most challenging circumstances. Partnerships between private industry and public entities may prove—like IWW—to incorporate the most sustainable, forward-thinking solutions. While no one expected these results when the project started in 2002, the civilians, service members and their families who occupy and utilize Fort Irwin will see the impact for a lifetime.