The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts are partnering to develop Pure Water Southern California, a regional water recycling program in Carson that, when completed, will purify and reuse cleaned wastewater, creating a new water supply source of some 150 million gallons a day of safe drinking water for Southern California.

This project, formerly known as the Carson Water Project, will benefit 19 million people living within Metropolitan’s service area, while creating 47,000 jobs during its construction (with total wages of $3.46 billion) and 1,040 ongoing jobs, with annual wages of $88 million.

Pure Water California is now undergoing environmental review under the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act.  The scoping process, when the public and governmental agencies commented on what should be studied in the project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was completed in November 2022, and the EIR is scheduled to be released in late 2024, with final certification targeted for 2025.

How It Works

The process begins with wastewater discharged from homes, businesses and industries. After the wastewater has been cleaned and treated, it flows to an advanced water treatment plant where it is further purified. The water then replenishes groundwater basins and is eventually pumped up, disinfected and used again. It could also be delivered to industrial facilities and potentially to Metropolitan’s water treatment plants and delivery system.