Benefits

The project has several important benefits for the residents of Orange County:

• The Irvine Desalter cleans, restores and make use of an important part of the groundwater basin that was previously not usable.
• Produces two new supplies of very high quality water that is superior to all state and federal standards.
• Yields an additional 3,900 acre-feet of water (1.3 billion gallons), enough for 1,300 acres of landscape irrigation annually.
• Provides 5,100 acre-feet (1.6 billion gallons) of drinking water, enough for 50,000 people, per year.
• Provides a local supply of water, thus helping to ensure a reliable source of water during drought conditions and for future generations.
• Protects the main groundwater basin, which provides most of Orange County’s dependable water supply.
• Incorporates state-of-the-art water and air treatment technologies, including reverse osmosis and granular activated carbon, resulting in high quality product waters and air emissions well within air quality standards.