SANTA CLARITA MUST CUT CHLORIDE WASTEWATER PLANTS GET NEEDED PERMITS.

Byline: Daily News

SANTA CLARITA - Discharge permits were issued Thursday to the Santa Clarita Valley's two wastewater treatment plants, on condition the use of automatic water softeners be reduced over the next decade.

The Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts will work with Santa Clarita to help the city reduce the presence of chloride in the Santa Clara River. Both Saugus and Valencia water reclamation plants now discharge about 180 parts per million of chloride.

The goal is to reach 100 parts per million, said Ann Heil, senior engineer with the sanitation districts.

The automatic water softeners installed in one in seven Santa Clarita households contribute to the high levels of chloride, Heil said.

A ban on the installation of self-regenerating water softeners in the Santa Clarita Valley took effect in March. Local hardware stores also cannot sell the devices.

The sanitation districts will start a series of outreach efforts next year to convince residents to remove their water softeners.

``We're working on a study to see if we can provide incentives, maybe offer rebates, to residents to remove the softeners,'' Heil said.

Heil said sanitation officials hope they do not have to resort to building a reverse osmosis treatment system that would rid the Santa Clara River of chloride but add $450 yearly to Santa Clarita residents' sanitation bills.