The recently completed $310 million final phase of a wastewater recycling program is helping the Orange County Water District meet a challenging mission: Keep replenishing the Orange County Water Basin, arguably the region’s most valuable natural resource.
Protecting the 270-square-mile basin is critical because it’s the main source of water for roughly 2.5 million residents in Orange County, just southeast of Los Angeles. In fact, the recycled-water program — called the Groundwater Replenishment System — supplies 77% of the county’s drinking water.
And that figure is expected to rise to 85% this spring due to increased production of recycled water and recent
