Simi Council Backs Plan to Recycle Sewer Water

Hoping to conserve costly drinking water, the Simi Valley City Council has endorsed a program that would use treated sewer water to hose down dusty trash.

The $1-million pilot program, to be paid for by the Calleguas Municipal Water District, is designed to cut down on the city’s water consumption by recycling a tiny portion of the city’s sewer water.

The system--a series of pipelines, pumps and reservoirs--should be pumping treated effluent to the Simi Valley Landfill in 18 months, said Don Kendall, Calleguas general manager.

After water disappears down Simi Valley toilets and sinks, it would be sent to a treatment plant, where it would be cleaned sufficiently for use at the dump without posing a health risk.

“Reclaimed water can save money, and it is a big factor in drought management,” Kendall said. “There is a big incentive for all of us to use this.”

On average, an individual household uses about half an acre-foot, or 163,000 gallons of water a year.

Reselling used water could eventually help cut down on water bills, which now run about $390 a year in Simi Valley for a four-person household.

Calleguas is working on a similar program in Hill Canyon in Thousand Oaks.

Another Calleguas project, designed in conjunction with the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, is near completion. The system will process water from Oak Park and North Ranch.

Although a seemingly simple concept, proposals to reuse waste water have been deemed too costly until now, Councilman Bill Davis said.

“It’s been on the city agenda for a long time, but as you can see, doing something like this isn’t cheap,” Davis said. “With the help from the (water) district, I think we’ll finally see this happen.”

Under the project, the district would sell about 250 acre-feet of treated waste water, or about 81.5 million gallons, each year to the city for distribution at the dump.

If successful, the project could lead to a $15-million system that would supply 4,774 acre-feet of reclaimed water a year, nearly half the effluent processed at the city’s sewer plant.

Drinking water sells for more than $400 an acre-foot, while the treated waste water will cost an estimated $350 an acre-foot, Mayor Greg Stratton said.

Stratton praised the project, but said he wanted to ensure that if it is successful, the city reaps a share of the financial benefit.

“I think it’s great that Calleguas is doing something for the residents of Simi Valley, and I want to encourage this,” Stratton said. “But I also know that if this program expands, it is going to be up to the city to market it, and the city should get compensated for that.”