December 9, 2022

Array

Follow the flow of your wastewater below!

While you may know that the District maintains and operates the sewer system that connects to your sewer lateral, do you know where all the wastewater goes? From your lateral, wastewater travels through a series of pipes and pump stations throughout Encinitas and Carlsbad, and eventually reaches the Encina Water Pollution Control Facility, which is operated by the Encina Wastewater Authority terauthority (EWA). You may have seen the facility west of Interstate 5 and south of Palomar Airport Road. This facility treats water from nearly 380,000 North County residents and is jointly owned by the City of Carlsbad, City of Encinitas, the City of Vista, CA City Hall, the Leucadia Wastewater District, Buena Sanitation District and the Vallecitos Water District.

One of the most critical and least visible parts of the Encina Water Pollution Control Facility’s infrastructure is the Ocean Outfall. Wastewater is treated to high standards and discharged to the Pacific Ocean through this pipeline, which extends approximately 1.5 miles offshore to a depth of about 150 feet. At this depth and dilution rate, the oceans natural cleaning capabilities take over and the treated water safely re-enters the environment. Learn more about Encina’s Ocean Outfall at http://bit.ly/EWAOverview.