ROTEC's Flow Reversal Selected for Advanced Water Reuse Project at Southern California Power Plant

Flow Reversal RO will eliminate surface-water discharge while recovering cooling tower blowdown wastewater for reuse

MARLTON, N.J., Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ROTEC USA LLC, a provider of advanced reverse osmosis technologies for municipal and industrial water treatment, today announced that it has been selected to provide advanced water treatment systems for the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) El Centro Generating Station (ECGS) in El Centro, California.

The project is part of IID's broader wastewater mitigation program to eliminate surface-water discharge from the generating station while increasing onsite water reuse. The new treatment system is being developed in response to increasingly stringent wastewater discharge requirements and will treat cooling tower blowdown for reuse within the facility. The El Centro Generating Station produces more than 330 MW of electricity and is a key component of IID's generation fleet, supporting reliable electric service across the Imperial and Coachella valleys.

ROTEC's scope includes the treatment of chemically softened cooling tower blowdown wastewater with membrane microfiltration and high-recovery Flow Reversal Reverse Osmosis (FR-RO), along with dedicated boiler feed reverse osmosis systems for the generating station. Water recovered by the FR-RO system will serve as feed to the boiler feed RO systems, enabling further onsite reuse, while the substantially reduced FR-RO concentrate stream will be directed to evaporation ponds.

"Cooling tower blowdown represents a major opportunity for water reuse in power generation," said Bruce Alderman, CEO of ROTEC USA. "At El Centro, Flow Reversal will help IID recover more usable water from that wastewater while sending far less to the evaporation ponds. It's a great example of how high-recovery RO can help power generation facilities get more value from the water they already have."

The project is being delivered by W. M. Lyles Co. as progressive design-builder, working alongside Aqua Engineering and Albert A. Webb Associates as part of the project's engineering and design team.

About ROTEC USA

ROTEC USA provides advanced reverse osmosis systems for municipal and industrial water treatment applications. Based on ROTEC's proprietary Flow Reversal Reverse Osmosis technology, the company delivers new reverse osmosis and nanofiltration plants, brine concentrators, retrofits, two-pass systems for demineralized water production, and pre- and post-treatment solutions.

ROTEC's systems are designed to maximize recovery, generate more clean water, reduce raw water demand, minimize brine volumes, extend membrane life, and reduce operating costs, chemical use, and cleaning events. Flow Reversal addresses high-recovery water treatment and reuse needs across municipal water, power generation, data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, food and beverage, oil and gas, and other water-intensive industries.

Media Contact
Max Finder  
ROTEC USA
[email protected]
www.rotec-water.com

SOURCE ROTEC USA LLC