Crews finished laying the final segment of the North City Pure Water Pipeline overnight beneath Hoyt Park Drive in Scripps Ranch, closing out an underground construction push that began in 2021. The pipeline is designed to carry purified water from a treatment facility off Eastgate Mall to Miramar Reservoir, a project city officials are calling a major milestone in San Diego's push for a more local water supply.
The news came straight from the city itself. We’ve reached a major milestone in our efforts to create a sustainable water supply for San Diego, the City of San Diego
wrote, adding that the final segment of pipe was installed last night under Hoyt Park Drive in Scripps Ranch. According to the city, the pipeline runs through 8 miles of underground pipe and is built to transport 30 million gallons of purified water per day once it is fully operational.
A Years-Long Build Finally Links Up
The pipeline is part of the broader Pure Water San Diego program, an advanced water purification effort intended to give the city a more reliable local water supply, reduce treated wastewater discharges to the Pacific Ocean, and lean on proven purification technology to turn recycled water into safe drinking water. Per city reporting, the route runs through 8 miles of pipeline, including roughly one mile running underwater within Miramar Reservoir.
Earlier city reporting detailed just how that underwater stretch came together. In a December 2023 update, Inside San Diego reported that the pipeline would run through 8 miles of pipeline to the reservoir, with a 1-mile branched section assembled on shore, loaded onto barges, and lowered into the reservoir bed. At that point, the city said Pure Water Phase 1 had surpassed 40% completion. Contractor W.A. Rasic Construction has said its crews installed approximately 7.4 miles of 48-inch welded steel pipeline for the project.
Tunneling Along the Route
The engineering work behind the pipeline involved more than trenching. The project included more than 1,100 feet of tunneling.
Pure Water is the city's largest and most ambitious infrastructure project. Phase 1 includes 11 construction projects. The system is designed to produce 30 million gallons of water locally every day and reduce the city's dependence on imported supplies.
The Pipeline's Role
The pipeline will carry purified water from the North City facility to Miramar Reservoir.
The city's broader goal for Pure Water San Diego is to supply nearly half of the city's water locally by 2035, according to Inside San Diego's earlier reporting. The final pipe segment was installed beneath Hoyt Park Drive in Scripps Ranch.
