Construction Begins on $950 Million East County Water Purification Plant

SAN DIEGO — A groundbreaking was held on Wednesday morning with city and water officials in East County for a new water purification program. The Program is a partnership between four agencies that comprise the East County Advanced Water Purification Joint Powers Agreement: Padre Dam Municipal Water District, County of San Diego, City of El Cajon and Helix Water District.

The organizations say the program will create a new, local, sustainable and drought-proof drinking water supply using new technology to purify East San Diego County's recycled water.

The new construction is set to be completed in 2026 with the maximum cost of the project being set at $950 million. It will generate up to 11.5 million gallons of new water per day which will account for 30% of current drinking water demands for East San Diego County residents.

According to a press release, the program will use four advanced water purification steps to produce water that is near-distilled in quality. After the advanced water purification process, the purified water will be blended with water in Lake Jennings and treated again at the R.M. Levy Water Treatment Plant before being distributed as drinking water.

The Program will be the first operating recycled water project in East County and the second in San Diego County after Pure Water Oceanside, which currently provides 20% of Oceanside's water supply. Pure Water San Diego will be the third recycled water project in the county and is scheduled to provide more than 40% of San Diego's water supply by 2035.

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Clean Energy Capital serves as Financial Advisor to the East County Advanced Water Purification Joint Powers Authority.