The spirit of innovation runs deep at EBMUD. A century ago, we built the world’s highest concrete arch dam and a gravity-fed aqueduct system to convey snowmelt 90 miles to the people of the East Bay. In the 1950s, our wastewater treatment plant transformed the health of the San Francisco Bay and, in 2012, we turned that plant into North America’s first to produce more renewable energy than is needed to run the facility.
Today we’re developing advanced pipeline materials, using cutting-edge tech, and producing green energy to propel our work and support our mission.
EBMUD has partnered with UC Berkeley to establish the Center for Smart Infrastructure (CSI) to drive innovation that addresses challenges our communities face due to climate change, aging systems and natural hazards like earthquake faults. From testing new kinds of pipe, to using remote sensors to survey dams, we’re developing better ways to operate reliably and sustainably.
In June, EBMUD engineers and CSI researchers deployed a sensor-loaded robot during a water tunnel inspection in Oakland. Such technology can help us safely assess critical infrastructure and collect deeper levels of data than possible by human inspection alone.
Earlier this year, EBMUD fed 3,000 feet of flexible, earthquake-resistant water transmission pipe 160 feet beneath the Oakland Estuary to serve the island city of Alameda through a borehole excavated with an innovative horizontal drilling technique. The result is vastly improved reliability for this vital water lifeline.
By innovating for the best solutions, your water and wastewater systems are more reliable, resilient, safe and sustainable – so you won’t have to think twice when you turn on the tap.
Sensor-loaded robots collect valuable data and improve worker safety.
Maintain emergency water: Two gallons a person a day for up to seven days.