As reported by The San Jose Mercury News, The North Coast County Water District (NCCWD) is about to open a recycled water program for customers in Pacifica, CA. Customers will be able to bring approved containers and receive free fill-ups from NCCWD employees.
This step is an expansion on the Pacifica Recycled Water Project. The project used high quality recycled water, which saves 50 millions of gallons of drinking water each year (as according to the NCCWD research), to irrigate popular recreation areas. Pacifica put in a number of purple pipes to run from the Clear Creek water recycling plant, to their newly installed pump system and from there into a storage tank. They began serving recycled water to irrigate the fields and parks in 2012.
The new program will allow for customers to receive 100 gallons of recycled water per visit, with no cap on how many times they can visit that day. The approved containers are sealable plastic or steel. Right now the water has only been approved to use on lawns or landscaping. However customers who would like to receive water from the program, must participate in training before they can use it.
The pumps and pipes for the water filling stations have already been completed, now all that NCCWD needs to wait for is approval from the state. The NCCWD board vice president announced at the August 19 board meeting, that the approval should come in the next three to four weeks.
The use of recycled water for irrigating lawns and landscapes comes at a time when Californians are suffering major drought issues. Pacifica residents will not only be able to conserve water with this program, they’ll also be keeping their lawns from dying—as many lawns across the state have.
