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El Dorado Hills Subdivision Slashes Water Use With 20-Year-Old Recycling Plan

EL DORADO HILLS (CBS13) — Homeowners in the Serrano subdivision of El Dorado Hills are reaping the benefits of having a separate recycled water system they use to irrigate their lawns during the drought.

It looks like a lush, green oasis in the middle of a dry, drought-stricken state.

"We are watering when we need to, but in a very prudent and conserving way. So people don't have to be afraid of water," said Kirk Bone with Parker Development Company.

That's because rather than just one water system, each of the 4,000 homes in the upscale subdivision has two.

"That potable water goes to the inside of the house, reclaim comes and is irrigated in the front and back yards," said Alan Panje with the El Dorado Wastewater Treatment Plant.

"Frankly, if we don't use the recycled water for irrigation, our purveyor—the [El Dorado Irrigation District]—just sends the water down the creek. instead they are selling it to our customers, who are able to keep their lawns greener than perhaps other folks," Bone said.

Panje says ultraviolet lights are used to disinfect millions of gallons of water so it can be reused. It's almost impossible to tell the difference from drinking water with the naked eye. That reclaimed water is then sent through purple pipes and used to irrigate individual Serrano homes, the neighborhood landscaping, and even the golf course.

"It helps tremendously, if you figure, we probably produce at this facility between 500 to 700 million gallons over the course of a year," he said. "And that's a load that doesn't have to come off of the potable system to irrigate these homes."

Bone says the homeowners are still hitting the 28 percent state mandate for the district when it comes to water conservation while also saving about one-third on their water bill.

"It's enabled our existing residents and our future residents to have a little bit of green in a historic drought," he said.

The recycled water system was installed when the development was build in the 1990s.

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