Dublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD) will celebrate the Central Dublin Recycled Water Retrofit Project on Monday, July 29 at 10:30 a.m. at Kolb Park, 8020 Bristol Road in Dublin. The project extended the District’s network of recycled water pipelines and retrofitted sprinkler systems at parks and schools in central Dublin to use recycled water instead of potable water.

The public is invited to the free event, which includes a short program about the project and refreshments, followed by an optional tour of the water recycling plant in Pleasanton. Dublin Mayor Tim Sbranti and Dublin Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Stephen Hanke are scheduled to attend, along with the city and school district staff, DSRSD employees, and contractors who were involved in the project. Representatives of state and federal legislators, the California Department of Water Resources, and others involved in obtaining and providing project funding also are scheduled to attend. State and federal grants paid about 25 percent of the project’s $3.9 million cost. The Zone 7 Water Agency contributed $39,000 from state water conservation grants to retrofit sprinkler systems at the schools.

“Water recycling plays the leading role in the water conservation story in Dublin and San Ramon,” said DSRSD Assistant General Manager and District Engineer David Requa. “Nearly 20 percent of all the water used in the District in the last year was recycled, and that number will only go up as we complete more retrofits like the Central Dublin Project. Because our community has embraced recycled water, we are already meeting the state’s 2020 goal to reduce potable water use by 20 percent per person. In fact, as of June 2013, DSRSD has reduced its potable water use by 24.3 percent.”

Recycled water distribution systems are completely separate from potable water systems and are colored purple for easy identification. DSRSD requires new developments to be plumbed, from the start, for recycled water irrigation at parks, schools, golf courses, commercial areas, and other large landscapes. Older neighborhoods in the DSRSD service area are being retrofitted as funding becomes available. The Central Dublin Project was DSRSD’s first major retrofit. Contractors installed 1.5 miles of recycled water distribution pipes under residential streets last fall and converted sprinkler systems at the parks and schools in early 2013.

A fact sheet with more information about the project and its benefits is available at: http://www.dsrsd.com/img/img_invest/Central_Dublin_Fact_Sheet_2013.pdf