WATER SOFTENER SWAP FOR $2,000?

Byline: Daily News

SANTA CLARITA -- Sanitation officials are offering residents up to $2,000 in rebates to remove any automatic water softeners from their homes -- and they'll even provide a plumber to do the work.

In an effort to reduce salty waste in the Santa Clara River, the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District will give residents 100 percent of the value of their water softeners and will provide licensed plumbers to remove and dispose of the systems.

Officials are asking residents to remove water softeners to avoid permanent increases in their sewer bills that could top off at $500 a household -- quadruple the current rates -- to finance a desalination system.

Installing salt- or potassium-based water softeners has been illegal locally since March 2003, when it was determined they produced a salty waste that, when discharged into the Santa Clara River, damaged crops downstream.

While many residents have already removed the softeners, chloride-discharge levels in the river are still higher than the cap set by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

If levels don't decline, officials say, a desalination plant will be required, which could cost up to $350 million. The cost would be passed on to consumers through their sewer bills.

To qualify for the rebate program, residents must currently be using water softeners that employ rock salt or potassium chloride. All units in the home must be removed, but only one rebate is allowed per household.

For information on salt-free water conditioning choices, visit www.lacsd.org/chloride.