East County Advance Water Purification Program

New Water Project Will Bring Cost Savings and a Reliable Water Supply to East County Residents

The Metropolitan Water District recently allocated $86M in funding for a project that will bring East County residents important cost savings on their wastewater services and a reliable supply of clean water. The money was approved for the East County Advanced Water Purification (ECAWP) program, a project that is scheduled to begin producing drinking water in 2025.

ECAWP will create a local, sustainable, and drought-proof drinking water supply for East County customers of the Padre Dam Municipal Water District and Helix Water District. The project is expected to satisfy up to 30% of East County’s drinking water demands.  The ECAWP will use state-of-the-art technology to purify recycled water and diversify East County’s water supply while reducing dependence on imported water. 

The San Diego County Sanitation District, City of El Cajon, and Padre Dam Municipal Water District have partnered to form a new Joint Powers Authority (JPA) that will construct, own, and operate the new ECAWP facilities.  Wastewater collected by these agencies from East County residents and businesses will be sent to and treated at the ECAWP facilities, which is anticipated to provide cost savings to their customers.

Once operational, the San Diego County Sanitation District will have a services contract with the ECAWP to place its customers’ flows into the system. Supervisor Dianne Jacob represents the County on the Joint Powers Authority.

Strengthening environmental sustainability, ECAWP will also eliminate the discharge of 15 million gallons of partially treated wastewater a day into the Pacific Ocean.

HOW IT WORKS

The Program uses four advanced water purification steps to produce water that is near-distilled in quality. After treatment, the purified water will be blended with water in Lake Jennings and treated again at the R.M. Levy Water Treatment Plant before being distributed as drinking water.

For more information, visit: East County AWP, CA | Official Website