Anyone living near the Tijuana River knows the ongoing frustration of the pollution problem. Beaches remain closed with unsightly warning signs. There is the ever-present smell, which is worse after heavy rains. For the residents of Imperial Beach and the surrounding areas, the Tijuana River isn’t just another environmental issue; it’s an everyday affliction.
There have been decades of studies, funding cycles and false starts to find a solution. When a new pilot project appears, frustrated residents want to know if it will actually address the pollution problem, or is it just another experiment that goes nowhere.
That skepticism is why Greenwater Services agreed to participate in last year’s pilot program to demonstrate how their nanobubble ozone technology can clean the water in the Tijuana River. This short-term pilot was not meant to be a silver bullet but to demonstrate that a different approach to water treatment can achieve measurable improvements under real-world conditions. We see this as the first step toward a sustainable approach to clean up the Tijuana River.
Greenwater is an Ohio-based technology company that specializes in water treatment. It’s not a political organization or regulator, but a committed company that has worked with engineers and scientists for years perfecting ways to reduce bacteria and contaminants in distressed waterways with no harmful byproducts. When government officials called for new solutions that could be quickly deployed to address public health concerns about the Tijuana River near the border, Greenwater recognized that its residue-free, disinfecting technology was ideal for the job.
It’s important to understand that the pilot program was never designed to “clean the river.” Removing the pollutants from the Tijuana River would require larger infrastructure with ongoing filtration and continuous operation. The pilot program was a proof-of-concept for Greenwater’s nanobubble ozone technology .
For Greenwater, the pilot program was a success. During active treatment periods, independent lab results showed an average 91.5% reduction in total coliform bacteria. Border agents and nearby workers reported a marked reduction in odors during treatment. The pilot also showed no negative environmental impacts, and that the water was more oxygenated after treatment.
The pilot program also highlighted challenges. The enormous amount of trash and debris limited operating hours and damaged equipment during an unexpected storm surge. Greenwater acknowledges these limitations and is confident they can be overcome. The pilot project pointed the way to next steps, and that’s clearly progress.
Following the pilot program, Greenwater submitted a detailed report outlining what would be required to scale the system, including a call for more treatment units, continuous operation, debris filtration and configurations to address storm surges. The pilot program demonstrated that Greenwater’s nanobubble ozone system could handle the task, and the lessons learned highlighted the obstacles that must be removed for sustainable success.
Too often, environmental debates devolve into extremes: either a solution solves everything, or it doesn’t work at all. The Tijuana River crisis is too complex for an easy solution. Any realistic solution to the problem will require a multifaceted approach. It will require improvements to upstream infrastructure, demanding companies refrain from dumping chemicals from their factories into the river, cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico, trash removal and treatment technologies that can be adapted and approved.
The residents of San Diego deserve solutions. They deserve a commitment to an ongoing program to clean up the Tijuana River, as well as transparency and an honest assessment of what’s possible. The Tijuana River’s pollution crisis can’t be fixed by one pilot project. Progress will depend on a willingness to try new approaches, test, measure, adapt and improve.
The Greenwater pilot program should be viewed as a positive step toward a lasting solution to the Tijuana River problem, which is what residents have been asking for all along.
Al George is chief executive officer of Greenwater Services, an Ohio-based company focused on water quality improvement projects using Nanobubble Ozone Technology.
