Orange County Water District officials Wednesday celebrated a $135 million federal loan that will significantly boost the district’s use of recycled water.
“We applied for a loan and we were one of 14 entities across the U.S. to receive a loan,” Water District President Denis Bilodeau said.
The loan will be paid back at 3 percent interest, Bilodeau said.
It will allow the district’s Fountain Valley plant to go from 100 gallons of recycled water daily to 130 million gallons, Bilodeau said.
“That is enough to serve a million people with water in Orange County,” Bilodeau said. “We will be recycling every drop of sewage that’s recyclable.”
District officials received final approval of the loan last week, he said.
The total cost of the expansion project is $282 million, so officials will finance the rest with bonds, Bilodeau said.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Mike Stoker joined Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, and Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, to make the announcement and tour the facility.
The project, which is scheduled to begin next year, will be completed by 2023 and generate 700 construction jobs, officials said.