News

Seagate Village Homeowner Association in Encinitas Now Irrigating with Recycled Water

Encinitas, CA—Olivenhain Municipal Water District began supplying locally produced recycled water to the Seagate Village Homeowner Association in Encinitas today. By converting to recycled water, the HOA will offset imported potable demand by about 9.5 acre-feet annually, or nearly 3.1 million gallons, as well as reduce their expenses due to the reduced cost of recycled water. Each acre-foot is enough water to offset the total water use of more than two average households for a year.

“Seagate Village Homeowner Association should be commended for taking advantage of recycled water through their partnership with OMWD,” said OMWD Board Director Christy Guerin. “Using recycled water for irrigation conserves millions of gallons of potable water while the HOA enjoys the economic benefits of reducing operational costs.”

“We are looking forward to converting all our common green areas, including an extremely large recreational park, to recycled water,” said Seagate Village HOA president Bob Cantrell. “It gives us far greater latitude to keep our grounds looking great and continue to supply potable water to our condo areas and swimming pool, all still within our yearly working budget. OMWD has been extremely helpful in this complicated conversion effort and we are very grateful for their guidance.”

Since 2014, OMWD and San Elijo Joint Powers Authority have worked collectively to bring recycled water to the Village Park neighborhood in Encinitas. San Elijo Water Campus, located in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, uses a combination of sand filtration, microfiltration, and reverse osmosis to produce high-quality water for irrigation and industrial uses. Seagate Village’s transition to recycled water is a product of this partnership.

“Projects like this help us conserve our water supplies and prepare for the next drought,” said SEJPA Board Chair Jody Hubbard.

In addition to the Village Park project, OMWD produces up to two million gallons of recycled water daily at its 4S Ranch Water Reclamation Facility. Additionally, OMWD has developed partnerships with neighboring recycled water providers to serve recycled water to additional portions of its service area. In total, OMWD pursues a sustainable and renewable approach to its water portfolio by meeting approximately 14 percent of its demands with recycled water.