Mayor Visits Cedars-Sinai Water Conservation Project Cedars-Sinai Skip to content Close Select your preferred language English عربى 简体中文 繁體中文 فارسي עִברִית 日本語 한국어 Русский Español Tagalog Menu Close Call 1-800-CEDARS-1 toggle search form Close Share Email Print CS-Blog Cedars-Sinai Blog Mayor Visits Cedars-Sinai Water Conservation Project Aug 22, 2018 Cedars-Sinai Staff Share Tweet Post David Wright, General Manager of LADWP (right), LA Mayor Eric Garcetti (center), and Rick Jacobs, Senior VP of System Development at Cedars-Sinai tour the groundwater conservation system. Did you know that Cedars-Sinai sits on top of an abundant natural water source? The underground river runs beneath San Vicente Boulevard and carries thousands of gallons of water. In the past, changes in underground water levels caused problems for the Cedars-Sinai facilities staff. "Because of the high water table running underneath us, we needed to design our buildings to pump the water out to the sewer to keep our buildings dry," says Sean Collins, Executive Director, Facilities Planning Design and Construction. "A few years ago, we developed a system to utilize that water instead of wasting it." A system of filters and tanks cleans ground water to be used at Cedars-Sinai. In 2013, a decision was made to use the groundwater under the hospital to fulfill some on the hospital's water needs. Engineers designed a vast network of pumps, pipes, tanks, and filters to put the water to work. The water now gets pumped through filters that clean it so it can be used by the massive cooling towers and air conditioning system throughout the hospital. Today, we were honored to host LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, who visited to see the underground water plant and recognize the efforts made to reduce our water use. Water conservation is a key initiative for the Mayor, who set a goal of reducing industrial water usage by 100 million gallons across the city. Sean Collins leads Mayor Garcetti on a tour of the groundwater conservation system at Cedars-Sinai. "We are called to reengineer our relationship to water in this city that is now the third largest economy of any metropolitan area in the world," said Mayor Garcetti. "It's an opportunity to reinvent and to reimagine our water infrastructure; and a task that's made all the more urgent by the historic drought and the new normal that we face." Tapping the groundwater under the hospital has led to a savings of about 29 million gallons a year at Cedars-Sinai, accomplishing 29% of the Mayor's goal for the entire city. "We've made a lot of progress with our water conservation efforts, but there's more room to grow," says Sean. "We're looking forward to continued improvement." Tags Los Angeles Behind the Scenes at Cedars-Sinai In Our Community Share Tweet Post Popular Categories Health + Wellness Science + Innovation Community Blog & Magazines catalyst Blog & Magazines Home CS-Blog Blog CS Magazine Cedars-Sinai Magazine discoveries magazine Discoveries Magazine Embracing our Community Embracing Our Community Blog & Magazines catalyst Blog & Magazines Home CS-Blog Blog Embracing our Community Embracing Our Community CS Magazine Cedars-Sinai Magazine discoveries magazine Discoveries Magazine Popular Topics In Our Community Faces of Cedars-Sinai Patient Stories Los Angeles Behind the Scenes Make an Appointment Find a Doctor Schedule a Callback Call us 24 hours a day 1-800-CEDARS-1 Support Cedars-Sinai Make a Gift Volunteer Share Email Print Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility