With issues of drought facing all Californians it became imperative that ISD should provide its recycled water to the public to help as much as possible. On June 20, 2015 ISD officially opened a Residential Recycled Water Fill Station at its headquarters in Oakley to allow Oakley and Bethel Island residents free access to available recycled water.
“We worked as swiftly as possible to cut through the state mandated paperwork to allow local residents the opportunity to receive our highly treated water,” said Jenny Skrel lead engineer for the District.
So far more than 100 people have signed up to receive recycled water and the District believes that a lot more will be signing up this weekend.
On Saturday, June 27 at 9 a.m. ISD will be hosting a “Valve” Grand Opening. We’re calling it a “Valve” Grand Opening in figurative sense since we are going to be opening the valve to release the water at 8 a.m. to keep with the Fill Stations regular hours.
ISD is hoping that people will come in on Saturday and learn about the Fill Station services and how they can keep their plants and lawns green during the drought.
For 20 years ISD has been using about 50 percent of it’s recycled water to irrigate hay fields on Jersey Island. With the opening of the Water Recycling Facility in 2011, the District received a state permit to discharge the remaining recycled water into the San Joaquin River.
“The fill station will give us an opportunity to take some of the water we send to the river, and provide the residents help with landscape irrigation,” Skrel said.
Recycled water should never be used to drink or prepare food. It can be used to water your trees, gardens, lawns, wash cars, paths and various other watering needs. All plants can be watered with recycled water. This includes edible plants such as fruit trees, vegetables and herbs. All fruits, vegetables and herbs, however should be washed with potable water before eating.
It is also important that residents do not use recycled water for cooking or use in the kitchen, as well as not use for bathing or showering, filling swimming pools or spas, or to clean or fill up children’s water toys.
Residents will be allowed free a maximum of 300 gallons of water per visit to the Residential Recycle Fill Station. They must bring their own containers with a minimum size container being one gallon and a maximum size of 300 gallons.
“Remember water is heavy and you should never fill up more then your vehicle can handle,” Skrel said.
One gallon of water weighs 8.345 pounds; 100 gallons weighs 834.5 pounds. When driving a vehicle with such a heavy weight, be sure to allow enough stopping distance and that containers secured for safe transport.
ISD also warns that recycled water must not be pumped into the plumbed landscape irrigation system that is interconnected with the resident’s drinking water supply. It is also important to never discharge to the street gutter or storm drain system.
To start the District plans to open the Residential Recycled Fill Station Monday and Wednesday noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to noon. Everyone who comes to pick up and uses ISD’s recycled water must receive a one-time 15 minute training on how to use the product and receive a special card and stickers to bring each time they come to pick up the recycled water.
The Residential Recycled Water Fill Station will be located at ISD’s main offices at 450 Walnut Meadows Drive, Oakley (cross streets Rose Avenue and Main Street). More information can be found at ISD’s website at www.ISDP2.org.
