Las Virgenes Municipal Water District’s new project aims to turn waste water into drinking water

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District could eventually turn waste water into pure drinking water for customers in Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village through its “Pure Water Project.”

The full scale water treatment system will be completed in five years and will produce 20% of the district’s water supply. Right now, the water district gets all of its water from the Metropolitan Water District.

“How do we create a local water supply to ensure that we’re more resilient to droughts and future droughts. And one of the things that we decided to do is look at water reuse,” said Mike McNutt, the public affairs officer for the water district.

The district has been working to get this off the ground since 2013. The cost for this technology is just over $300 million.

There will be a return on investment in the form of locally produced water.

Related: Here’s how Mesa Water District uses 100% local water

David Katzner of Calabasas likes the idea.

“What’s not to like? I mean, we’re in a drought. We’re all trying to do our part and this is just one extra piece of the puzzle to help, whether it’s drinking water or any other usable water,” Katzner said.

The full sized version of this will be built in Agoura Hills. The clean water will be stored in the district’s reservoirs after it goes through the cleansing process.

“When its time to be put into the distribution system, it’ll be put through our Westlake filtration plant for a seventh treatment and then it’s going to be put back into the drinking water system,” McNutt said. “So… it goes down the drain… and then we’re able to reuse it again.”