WATER SOFTENERS BANNED? MOVE EYED TO MAINTAIN SANTA CLARA RIVER.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The Los Angeles County Sanitation District is poised to ban the installation of self-regenerating water softeners here to lower the amount of chloride in the Santa Clara River.

The level of salt in the river has been steadily increasing for several years and, if unchecked, will harm strawberry and avocado crops downriver in Ventura County along with the fish and plants that depend on the river, according to Ann Therese Heil, a senior engineer with the sanitation district.

``We have to bring the chloride level down, and we have to take action very quickly,'' Heil said.

However, the Water Quality Association, a national trade group for manufacturers and dealers of home and commercial water treatment systems, said the ban would limit consumer choice and hurt the industry.

``While we do understand the problem the sanitation district is in, it is unclear whether the ban will be effective,'' said Carlyn Meyer, a spokeswoman for the association. ``The sanitation district is really caught between a rock and a hard place.''

The sanitation district hopes the ban, expected to be approved Tuesday, will forestall the need for a microfiltration and reverse osmosis treatment system that would rid the Santa Clara River of chloride but add $450 to Santa Clarita Valley residents' yearly sanitation bills.

``That should be the absolute last resort and all other options need to be exhausted before that tax is even considered,'' said Santa Clarita Mayor Cameron Smyth, a member of the sanitation district board.

The softeners are used to get rid of the ``hard'' water that is common throughout the Santa Clarita Valley, which depends on groundwater. The system uses salt to filter out magnesium and other metals that can leave deposits on faucets, showers and washing machines. The salt is then dumped in the sewer and ends up in the river.

According to a study conducted by the sanitation district, self-regenerating water softeners are responsible for 33 percent of the chloride in the Santa Clara River, Southern California's last natural waterway.

About 11 percent of homes in the valley have self-regenerating water softeners, Heil said.

The level of chloride in the river has increased from 168 milligrams per liter in 2001 to 183 milligrams per liter in 2002. Water with 230 milligrams per liter can harm fish, including the endangered unarmored three-spined stickleback, Heil said.

``The ban is the best way to stabilize the chloride levels, which have been galloping out of control,'' Heil said.

According to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, the maximum daily level of chloride in the Santa Clara River should be no more than 100 milligrams per liter.

Homeowners irked by hard water will instead have to install softeners with exchange tanks that do not discharge into the sewers, or face a misdemeanor charge and $1,000 fine or 30 days in jail, Heil said. Self-regenerating water softeners are already prohibited in businesses.

Those systems are much more expensive to operate, costing about $760 a year versus the $60 a year that the self-regenerating systems cost. However, it would cost the sanitation district $2,000 a year to remove the salt each softener dumps into the river, Heil said.

``We want to educate people on the true costs of water softening,'' Heil said. ``It's much more than what you pay out of pocket.''

District officials are hopeful that home supply stores will agree to stop selling self-regenerating water softeners, or at least warn their customers that it is illegal to install them, Heil said.

Once the ordinance goes into effect March 22, the sanitation district will begin urging homeowners throughout the city to replace existing self- regenerating water softeners, Heil said.

The sanitation district is considering instituting a buy-back program or rebates for customers that do not use self-regenerating water softeners, Heil said.

The sanitation district board will meet at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 23920 Valencia Blvd.