Around Town: Construction work begins on Bristol Street in Costa Mesa

Work began Friday on a project to replace pavement on Bristol Street between Baker Street and Randolph Avenue in Costa Mesa.

Crews are expected to finish grinding the deteriorating roadway overnight in preparation for new pavement to be installed beginning Saturday morning.

The project includes building landscaped roadway medians in the area, installing new storm drain catch basins and putting an additional traffic signal on Bristol at the entrance to the Camp commercial center.

Funding for the $6.5-million project comes from local, county, state and federal sources, according to a city news release.

“This project will provide a smoother ride along this stretch of Bristol Street, better operational conditions for vehicular and pedestrian traffic and improve the water quality of the Back Bay area by providing treatment for some of the stormwater runoff,” the release states.

O.C. agencies set world record for wastewater recycled in 24 hours

The Orange County Water District and Orange County Sanitation District set a Guinness World Record on Friday afternoon for the most wastewater recycled to drinking water in 24 hours. The final amount was more than 100 million gallons since the clock started at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, officials said.

The record was achieved by the groundwater replenishment system, billed as the world’s largest water purification facility of its kind.

The agencies marked the achievement and commemorated the system’s 10th anniversary with a celebration at the GWRS facility in Fountain Valley.

“Recycling wastewater is critical to protecting and effectively managing our local water supplies at a time when we are facing extreme weather and droughts,” Orange County Water District President Denis Bilodeau said in a statement. “We hope this achievement will raise awareness and better understanding of the importance of facilities like the GWRS, because the potential of water recycling in California, and around the world, is tremendous.”