Zone 7 celebrates Water Awareness Month with free in-person tours of Patterson Pass Water Treatment Plant

News Release

LIVERMORE, Calif. (May 7, 2024) – Zone Water Agency will once again host in-person tours at Patterson Pass Water Treatment Plant in honor of Water Awareness Month beginning at 10 AM on Saturday, May 18th, and concluding at 2 PM with tours beginning every half hour. The tours consist of a 15-minute introduction to the facility and its upgrades, followed by a 45-minute guided walking tour. Zone 7 provides drinks, treats, and free water-related promotional items to each guest, along with a behind-the-scenes look at the complex world of water treatment.

In March of 2019, the facility began construction to upgrade the facility completely. In total, the project cost $110 million for planning, design, and construction and was funded by water rates, new connection fees, and bonds. In June of 2022, the facility completed construction and now offers ozonation as a water treatment. The upgrades to the facility also include replacement of equipment and increased water storage capacity. Previously the amount of treated water the plant could produce was 12 million gallons a day. The project doubled the amount of treated water production capacity to 24 million gallons daily and also added a 5-million-gallon clearwell for operational storage.

To introduce these upgrades to the public, Zone 7 Water Agency hosted public tours for the first time in 2023. The tours aimed to teach the public where and how their water is treated before it gets delivered to their homes and businesses. The upgrades to Patterson Pass, along with the opportunity to tour the facility, showcase Zone 7’s ongoing commitment to providing safe and clean drinking water, as well as its commitment to public transparency.

California celebrates Water Awareness Month annually in May and is adopting new regulations for Making Conservation a California Way of Life as part of this effort. The goal is to cultivate long-term practices that will help address California’s limited water supplies and set new, permanent water use targets for entire service areas that combine:

•          How much water a person uses indoors per day;

•          How much water residents and commercial customers use outside; and

•          How much water is lost through leaks.

Once the regulation is finalized, Zone 7 Water Agency will know how much the state expects our customers to conserve and we will continue to work to meet these targets through our rebate programs, infrastructure improvements, outdoor watering guidelines, and conservation lifestyle tips. You can find conservation tips and best practice guidelines at zone7water.com/conservation.