Tours of Water Recycling Facility Offer Southern Californians Glimpse Into Potential Drought-proof Water Supply

Metropolitan expanding outreach with virtual tours in Spanish, English

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is building awareness and understanding of a potential new drought-proof water supply for the region by hosting virtual tours, now available in Spanish, of its Regional Recycled Water Program demonstration facility.

Participants of the next tours – taking place in English on April 27 and in Spanish on April 29 – will be introduced to Southern California’s water supply sources while virtually visiting Metropolitan’s state-of-the-art Regional Recycled Water Advanced Purification Center, developed in partnership with the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts.

The demonstration facility is the first step in what could become the largest advanced water treatment plant in the nation. The full-scale facility would purify treated wastewater currently sent to the ocean, allowing it to be reused and creating a new, drought-proof water supply for Southern California.

“As we develop this new water supply, it’s important that we engage everyone we can across our diverse service area because this large project would deliver water throughout the region,” said Metropolitan board Chairwoman Gloria D. Gray. “Offering tours in English and Spanish is an opportunity for more people across Southern California to learn about what we are doing to ensure our region has reliable water even as climate change challenges our other water sources.”

Currently, only about 10 percent of Southern California’s wastewater is reused. Metropolitan’s demonstration facility is testing an innovative treatment method to purify and reuse wastewater. If built, the full-scale plant would produce 150 million gallons per day, enough to serve more than 500,000 homes. Purified water may be used for groundwater replenishment, industrial purposes, and potentially as an additional supply into Metropolitan’s water treatment plants.

“This project is a major investment to reduce Southern California’s reliance on imported water supplies. By tapping an unused source of wastewater, we’re continuing to diversify the region’s water sources to ensure we always have reliable water,” Metropolitan Chief Operating Officer Deven Upadhyay said.

The next English tours take place at 4 p.m. on April 27, 4 p.m. on May 26, and noon on June 18. Tours in Spanish are scheduled for 5 p.m. on April 29 and noon on June 22. Participants may register for tours hosted on Zoom in Spanish, in English, or watch them live on Metropolitan’s YouTube channel. Live virtual tours can also be customized for groups or classrooms and can be requested here.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative that, along with its 26 cities and retail suppliers, provide water for 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.

Note to editors: B-roll and on-camera soundbites in Spanish available here.