CAMARILLO : Work to Begin on Treatment Plant

The Camrosa Water District breaks ground today on a $9-million waste water treatment plant, which officials say will reduce water treatment costs 25% and provide reclaimed irrigation water for neighboring farms.

The 1.5-million-gallon capacity plant is expected to be operational in January, 1997, district General Manager Richard Hajas said. The Camrosa Water District serves about 22,000 people, including residents of Leisure Village and Camarillo State Hospital.

District board members will plunge a gold-painted shovel into the ground at 3 p.m. at the plant site, 1900 Lewis Road.

The plant will replace an adjacent, circa-1930 predecessor, which the district purchased in 1979 from the state and was formerly part of the hospital complex. A February, 1994, feasibility study persuaded the district to build a new plant rather than spend millions upgrading the old one.

When completed, the plant will use a more efficient and cheaper treatment process. In addition, the better quality treatment will allow the district to sell reclaimed water to nearby farms. The price will be 75% to 80% less than imported water, Hajas said.

The district tapped $2 million in reserves and sold $7 million worth of bonds to finance the plant. District customers saw monthly sewer rates rise $2 in July and can expect another $2 increase next summer, Hajas said.

“There are few [districts] as low as we are, even with the increases,” he said. “We anticipate very stable sewer rates on into the next century.”