Reclaimed water project back on tap

Potable reuse also a possibility



 

 

The City Council last week agreed to explore recycled water options in response to the area’s continued drought and the complaints of residents tired of watching their lawns wither under the once-a-week irrigation mandate.

On Oct. 24, the council unanimously voted to explore loans and grants to restart the city’s stalled recycled water project.

Officials also agreed to research a citywide potable water reuse system, and develop a plan for the public to access recycled water from the Simi Water Quality Control Plant, a treatment facility located on 33 acres at the western end of the city.

“At this point we should kind of be investigating all of our options, because this drought has continued so long, we know water is one of our scarcest resources, and we’re being mandated to build more (housing),” Mayor Pro Tem Elaine Litster said.

In 2008, the council approved the West Simi Valley Recycling Project to expand the city’s existing recycled water system to the east and south of the water treatment plant. Potential customers were to include golf courses, the town center, Caltrans and some parks, schools and cemeteries. There were discussions about providing recycled water to the Simi Valley Unified School District and the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, too.

Joe Deakin, the city’s assistant public works director, said all of these major water users expressed concerns at the time about the quality of recycled water and the initial capital costs needed to reconfigure their irrigation systems so they could receive and use the treated water.

Without commitments from all these water users, Deakin said it was not financially prudent to move forward with the large capital costs required to expand the project, estimated to cost approximately $25 million at the time. As a result, in 2017, the city stopped pursuing a recycled water program.

The ongoing drought and water shortage emergency has reignited interested in the project. The city has begun receiving inquiries about public access to the reclaimed water plant system for filling personal containers to use on residential and commercial properties in Simi Valley.

“While it could be designed and constructed, there are considerable challenges and expense to make a publicly available filling station operation,” said Deakin, adding that operating permits would also need to be secured from the state and additional staff resources would be needed for monitoring and training.

In addition, Deakin said, potential uses for reclaimed water are expanding beyond irrigation. Treatment methods have become so advanced that recycled water can be made safe enough to drink.

Deakin said the Triunfo and Las Virgenes water districts are teaming up to develop a “potable reuse” project, as is the City of Ventura.

“For Simi Valley customers, the concept of potable reuse is a practical means for reusing our effluent water within the community,” said Deakin, adding that local water storage resources, including the Simi Valley basin and Calleguas’ Lake Bard, could be ideally situated to make a potable system feasible and practical locally.

He said the city is working with Calleguas on a plan to use recycled water delivered by truck to irrigate city-owned properties and trees.

Deakin said he believes making better use of recycled water during times of drought is preferable and more easily achieved than constructing an ocean desalination system to produce usable water.

The city is open to renewing talks with various agencies and businesses about using recycled water, he said.

Councilmember Dee Dee Cavanaugh said that as a former RSRPD board member, she is sure the park district still would not have the funds to pay for the infrastructure changes needed to deliver recycled water. The district has other projects it’s working on and parks that still need to be finished, she said.

“When I was on the board, we looked at (recycled water) for the golf course. I thought it would be great, but the cost was prohibitive to re-pipe it,” Cavanaugh said

RSRPD’s board of directors is working to conserve water, though. At its Oct. 6 meeting, the board authorized a $65,000 contract with BTS Golf LLC to design an upgraded irrigation system at the Simi Hills Golf Course that is expected to cut its water use by 10% to 15%.

Regarding the use of grey water at the Simi Hills golf course, Park District General Manager Dan Paranick said the district would need city support to make it feasible.

The challenge, he said, is shipping treated water from the treatment plant to the golf course on the other side of town.

The City Council’s action on recycled water occurred at the same meeting where homeowner’s association representatives from the Long Canyon Estates and Big Sky neighborhoods spoke about how their lawns, trees and landscaping are dying because they’re only allowed to water once a week in order to conserve water.

They said watering one day a week is not enough, and wanted to open up a dialogue with the city about possible remedies.