LAGUNA NIGUEL : Homeowners Resist Water Plant Expansion

The Moulton Niguel Water District’s plan to expand a water treatment plant here has received a clear “thumbs down” from neighboring homeowners.

Residents near the plant at La Paz and Kings roads say they want the district to eliminate the plant’s nasty odor before embarking on the $7.5-million project in May.

“This is a state-of-the-art facility that stinks to high heaven,” Crown Royale Homeowners Assn. secretary James Brown said. He said property values around the plant are declining because of the plant’s stench.

But the district said the expansion plan will not increase odors from the plant.

The district wants to equip the plant to reclaim more waste water for irrigation, said Larry Dees, who is heading the project for the water district. The state requires that water districts recycle water. That step in the treatment process doesn’t cause odors, Dees said.

The Laguna Niguel plant treats 12 million gallons of commercial and residential waste water a day, with 9.6 million gallons being treated twice, making it clean enough to be released into the ocean, he said.

The rest is cleaned three times, which makes it suitable for irrigation.

After the expansion, 11.4 million gallons of the water treated there will be cleaned three times, Dees said. The expansion, which includes bringing in a new tank and new filters, is expected to take more than a year.

Dees said the plant’s occasional foul odor comes from the pond in front of the treatment plant, where the water that has been treated twice is stored for a short time before being washed out to the sea.

Brown said the plant’s odor has increased in recent years, making life unpleasant for nearby residents.