South County : New System Saves Drinking Water, Cuts Irrigation Costs

A $7.2-million, waste-water-based irrigation system went into service last week, delivering water to some parts of southern Orange County for about 80% of the cost of using potable water.

Linda Jones, assistant general manager of the South Coast County Water District, which has about 5,000 customers in South Laguna and parts of Laguna Niguel and Dana Point, said the reclaimed water is being used for two golf courses, a park, a high school playing field and a few housing developments. All the water is used on greenbelts and other common grounds, she said. No reclaimed water is sold to individual households.

Jones said the project, which took more than seven years to get “from the drawing board to opening the valves,� will supply about 280 million gallons of reclaimed water each year. The treated water is stored in a 500,000-gallon tank at the treatment plant in Laguna Beach, then pumped out to customers.

Conservation of drinking, water, she said, is the principal benefit of the new system. “Eventually there is going to be another drought . . . what will happen is that they will cut back on irrigation services,� she said. “We’ll have an alternative to that.� The reclaimed water thus will permit the district to continue irrigation even in a dry period, she said.

The project was partially supported by the California Water Resources Control Board and the Metropolitan Water District of Los Angeles, which contributed about $2 million each. The balance of the cost was borne by the South Coast County Water District, Jones said.