The District also operates and maintains an advanced water treatment facility, known as the Gafner Water Recycling Facility (Gafner Plant). Rate payers do not pay for reclaimed water. LWD made a decision several years ago to decommission its primary and secondary treatment facilities and pump back highly treated secondary wastewater from the Encina Water Pollution Control Facilities through its existing pipeline. This was done to optimize the quality of our recycled water, while simultaneously significantly reducing the cost of the water by eliminating the manpower, energy, and chemical costs associated with primary and secondary treatment. The Gafner plant filters the secondary wastewater to remove 98% of any solid matter. The water is then disinfected with chlorine to meet state regulations and delivered to a storage reservoir for landscaping irrigation.
The facility is also automated by using advanced supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA) , which are computer controlled systems that monitor and control the Gafner plant. The system alerts operators when there is a problem, such as, high turbidity or low chlorine alarms. The system also allows us to optimize pump back flows from the Encina plant to match the demands of the golf course.
The Gafner plant is operated to maximize the amount of recycled water delivered to the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s South Golf Course, while achieving 100% compliance with the state’s Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR). For the past 40 years, the facility has been producing recycled water to the La Costa Resort & Spa (now Omni) to irrigate the turf and keep the course green and beautiful. We produce 80 – 100 million gallons of recycled water per year for the golf course thus saving valuable potable water resources.