OCEANSIDE GETS $4.5M FOR WATER PROJECTS
City plans to expand its recycled water distribution system
OCEANSIDE
Oceanside received a state grant of more than $4.5 million last week to expand its recycled water distribution system and to help with construction of its first water purification project.
The state Department of Water Resources provided the money to help the city reduce its reliance on imported water. The Oceanside City Council has set a goal of producing at least 50 percent of its water locally by 2030.
“We’re grateful for the funding from DWR to be able to continue our efforts to reduce Oceanside’s reliance on imported water, while minimizing the impact to ratepayers,” said Cari Dale, water utilities director, in a news release Friday.
Most of the grant money, or $3.115 million, is for the Pure Water Oceanside project that broke ground in February near the wastewater treatment plant in the San Luis Rey Valley. When completed next year, the project will purify 3 million to 5 million gallons of water per day to be injected into the underground aquifer for future consumption.
The rest of the grant, $1.45 million, will be used to expand the city’s recycled water distribution system. The city treats nearly 70 mil
•
lion gallons of wastewater a year to a level that’s not potable but is used for irrigation at the Municipal Golf Course, Goat Hill Golf Course and the El Corazon Sports complex.
Oceanside’s grant money will be combined with $1.35 million in grant money from neighboring water districts to add about seven miles of pipes that would expand the distribution of recycled water to more golf courses, homeowners associations, parks and industrial and agricultural customers.
Oceanside is on track to increase its local supplies to 33 percent by 2023 and 56 percent by 2030, city officials said.
The city has been pumping brackish groundwater from the valley’s Mission Basin for more than 20 years and filtering it by reverse osmosis to create a local supply of potable water. However, the water in the aquifer is decreasing and becoming more brackish.
Recharging the aquifer with purified, recycled water will allow the city to continue using the wells.
Construction of the Pure Water project is expected to cost $67 million, most of which will be grant money from various sources.
Completion of the project would make Oceanside one of the first cities in San Diego County to be drinking recycled wastewater. Several other cities and water districts are considering similar plans. The city of San
Diego accepted a $614 million federal loan in 2018 to start a Pure Water project and expects to begin production in 2023.
The Orange County Water District has been using a groundwater replenishment system since 2008 that now meets the daily needs of 850,000 residents.