Concerning “City Expected to take over water factory,” dated May 23.
I am all for recycling as much water as possible as water effects nearly every aspect of our lives, but this seems to be an enormous waste of taxpayers’ money. This article points out that the city of Santa Clarita is going to take over and fund the operation of a tiny water reclamation plant that serves one of the newest housing developments within the city. According to The Signal’s article, the city is paying $3.5 million over a five-year period to operate this tiny water reclamation plant that puts out 392,000 gallons of “non-potable” (non-drinkable) water per year.
At a cost of $700,000 per year to operate this plant, that works out to $1.78 per gallon of water recycled — $1.78 per gallon for water that is non-potable. The article did not say if this water was to be used for any purpose such as landscape watering or was it simply being returned to the Santa Clara River to flow to the ocean. I love living in Santa Clarita and I feel that the city does a great job on most things, but this seems to be a very inefficient use of the taxpayers’ money.
Ron Meyer
Saugus
Editor’s note: About one-third of the water will be used on-site and two-thirds will be sold to the SCV Water Agency. The water is to be used for irrigation.
