Eastern Municipal honored for recycled water program

For the fourth year in a row, Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) has been recognized as a “Utility of the Future, Today” for its innovative approach toward providing services to its customers.

The Utility of the Future Today is presented by the Water Environment Federation, along with its partners, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, the Water Research Foundation, WateReuse Association, and the United States Water Alliance, along with their advisory partners, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the United States Department of Energy. The award recognizes forward-thinking utilities that develop and implement programs on behalf of their customers. Forty-seven utilities nationally were recognized with the award.

EMWD was honored for its Recycled Water Accelerated Retrofit Program project at The Lakes at Hemet West. EMWD worked with the community, which has approximately 700 mobile homes and a nine-hole golf course, to retrofit much of the public areas to recycled water. The irrigation system was upgraded, and more than 360,000 square feet of nonfunctional turf was removed while not impacting the playability of the golf course.

The result was the community went from using approximately 250 acre feet of potable water each year to using 70 acre feet of potable water and 110 acre feet of recycled water.

“We are honored to again be recognized for our forward-thinking and transformative work that we are doing to provide our customers with a better water supply future,” EMWD Board President Phil Paule said. “EMWD is committed to advancing sustainable projects and programs that will allow us to be at the forefront of water supply management. We sincerely appreciate the Water Environment Federation and its partners in providing this recognition for the work that EMWD and other innovative utilities are doing on behalf of their customers.”