Yucaipa Increases Recycled Water Supply With New Facility

PHOTO: Board of Directors in front of the reverse osmosis equipment used by the Yucaipa Valley Water District to purify the recycled water supply. (Left to Right – Director Jay Bogh, Director Ken Munoz, Director Lonni Granlund, Director Tom Shalhoub, and Director Bruce Granlund.)

The following was submitted for publication on behalf of the Yucaipa Valley Water District:

Yucaipa Valley Water District board members on Monday threw the switch at the Henry N. Wochholz Regional Water Recycling Facility, increasing the amount of recycled water supply available for landscape irrigation throughout the district’s service area.

As a result of stringent regulatory requirements in the upper Santa Ana Watershed, the Yucaipa Valley Water District is one of the few agencies that operates a high-tech desalinization facility that produces extremely pure recycled water.

YVWD board members inaugurated the Wochholz facility after the State Water Resources Control Board, Department of Drinking Water issued a permit that enables YVWD to fully utilize the treatment process and serve recycled water from the recently expanded facility.

“This is a major milestone for Yucaipa Valley Water District as we implement a series of projects that protect our customers from extended periods of drought and cutbacks in State Water Project deliveries,” said General Manager Joseph Zoba. “In addition to being a highly reliable source of water, the recycled water in Yucaipa and Calimesa is one of the purest sources of water available in Inland Southern California.”

The level of treatment used to produce recycled water is very similar to the extensive treatment process used by the District to produce drinking water. The drinking water filtration process and the final steps of the recycled water treatment process both use microfiltration and molecular filtration to produce high quality water that is sent to customers in two separate piping systems.

Landscaping at parks, schools and golf courses consumes vast amounts of water so the more YVWD is able to use recycled water for landscape irrigation and industrial uses, the more the District can use its local water supplies for drinking water purposes.

“The highly pure recycled water source will give us water management options that we did not have before, “said Zoba. “The district now has the ability to satisfy the needs of businesses looking for a highly purified recycled water supply that would be available during a drought.”

The district staff has been busy installing signs indicating the use of recycled water throughout the community. “The recycled water signs have been planted throughout the district and will indicate if a business, park, school, or golf course is using recycled water or drinking water for irrigation,” said Zoba.

The recycled water system is a separate and independently operated system from the drinking water system. Recycled water facilities are painted purple to indicate they are part of the recycled water system, while fire hydrants on the drinking water system are painted yellow.

For more information about the district’s recycled water system or to participate in a tour, please contact Jennifer Ares, water resource manager at (909) 790-3301.