Las Flores, CA (August 8, 2008) – For Santa Margarita Water District, being environmentally conscious and fiscally conservative is not a bunch of hot air – in fact, burning hot air has yielded big savings and reduced the District’s carbon footprint.

For seven years, SMWD has saved more than $410,000 by using a renewable energy source to power its Chiquita Water Reclamation Plant off Ortega Highway. The renewable energy source is methane gas, a greenhouse gas that is the byproduct of the water reclamation process. By utilizing the gas, SMWD removes it from the atmosphere and generates approximately 17 percent of the power needed to run the 29-acre facility.

A Fiscally Sound Solution
The methane– also called digester gas – is burned in microturbines 24 hours a day to provide energy to the plant. This process reduces the facility’s energy consumption by approximately 10 percent each year.

SMWD recognized that letting the gas escape unused into the environment was wasteful and environmentally damaging, so it turned to the microturbines. The microturbines also generate heat that’s used by SMWD to generate hot water for the reclamation process. This has allowed the District to shut down two boilers that used non-renewable fuels, further reducing the plant’s energy consumption.

“Being a good steward of the environment is one of SMWD’s main priorities, and the microturbines have allowed us to greatly reduce our carbon footprint and save on energy costs over the past seven years,” said SMWD General Manager John Schatz. “Each one of the microturbines recouped its installation cost within the first year of operation.”

Assisting SMWD in its microturbine program was the South Coast Air Quality District, which donated two generators to SMWD, and the San Diego Regional Energy Office, which donated more than $92,000 toward the installation of two additional microturbines at the treatment plant in 2003.

Rewarded for its Efforts
SMWD’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. Earlier this year, the plant was named Plant of the Year by the Santa Ana River Basin Section of the California Water Environment Association. The award recognized SMWD’s exceptional effort in energy conservation as well as safety, innovation, process control, and maintenance at the facility.

About the Santa Margarita Water District
SMWD is Orange County’s second-largest water district, with a customer base of more than 155,000 residents and businesses in Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Coto de Caza, Las Flores and inland southern Orange County, including the communities of Ladera Ranch and Talega.

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