The Basin Cleaning Vehicle is a project designed to improve the capabilities of the District's recharge operations by continuously cleaning the basin bed to increase the amount of water that percolates, or sinks, into the groundwater basin.

Six deep basins adjacent to the Santa Ana River in Anaheim are used for recharging the groundwater basin. The basins recharge an estimated 150,000 acre-feet per year (afy) of water. During the year as the recharge basins are used, a clogging layer of fine sediment accumulates on the bottoms and sides of the basins which inhibits percolation.

Currently, the basins must be dewatered and then cleaned using bulldozers to restore the percolation rate. During cleaning, the basin is unable to percolate water, which reduces the capacity of the District's recharge facilities to capture and store future water supplies.

The Basin Cleaning Vehicle (BCV) would allow the basins to be cleaned while they still contain water. A prototype currently being designed would be a self-propelled, vacuum-type unit which would lift the fine sediment from the bottom of the basins and pump it to the shore for dewatering and land disposal.

The project would allow the percolation of more Santa Ana River storm water, thereby increasing local water supplies. It is anticipated that the use of the BCD would yield an additional 23,000 afy of water to be percolated into the groundwater basin, which would ultimately decrease the need for local water agencies to purchase more expensive imported supplies.

Three BCV prototypes been developed and tested to date. At the heart of the BCV design is a mechanical means of breaking up the clogging layer and capturing the silt-sand water suspension under a suction hood. In the hood, sand drops back onto the lakebed while silt-laden water is pumped to shore for dewatering and silt disposal.

The first prototype, BCV-1, is a sled-mounted unit towed by a shore-based winch. It was delivered in 1994 and testing, completed in 1996, determined the BCV to be an economically feasible project, worthy of further development. BCV-2, propelled by two Archimedes screws (screw augers), is an electric-powered, fully automated vehicle. It was delivered in 1998 with testing completed by the end of 1999. Testing showed that a BCV removes the clogging layer, causes basin percolation to increase, and identified improvements needed for the next generation vehicle: BCV-3, pictured above and below.