CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION
                      NEWS RELEASE


For Immediate Release: February 8, 1995
More Information Contact: Rob Schlichting - (916) 654-5159


TAPIA WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY  HONORED FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY


The Tapia Water Reclamation Facility in Calabasas has been named 
an Energy Efficiency Showcase by the California Energy Commission, 
which praised the plant's resourcefulness in saving energy.

The Tapia Water Reclamation Facility is a joint venture of the 
Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and the Triunfo Sanitation
District.  Tapia is one of only 16 wastewater facilities to be 
selected for the Commission's Energy Showcase project.  Ten water 
supply districts were also selected from the more than 4,000 water 
and sewer agencies in California.

"The Showcase program was designed to reward and spotlight energy 
efficient wastewater facilities like this plant," explained 
Commissioner Jananne Sharpless of the Energy Commission.  "With 
their innovative approaches to energy use, the operators of the 
Tapia facility serve as models for other water professionals 
around the state."

The facility was singled out for its sophisticated energy 
management program.  "We use computers to constantly monitor our 
electrical consumption," said Steve Witbeck, Tapia's Water 
Reclamation Superintendent.  "We can track what each pump and 
blower is doing to better control our use of electricity and 
reduce its use during higher priced, on-peak times of the day."

The system also boasts high efficiency motors that use less 
electricity and variable frequency drives that pump water more 
efficiently.  "Last year we reduced energy consumption at the 
plant by 15 percent," said Witbeck.  "Our energy costs went down 
by 32 percent."

A state-of-the-art tertiary treatment facility, Tapia  is capable 
of transforming as many as 16 million gallons of sewage per day 
into clean, reclaimed water used to irrigate school grounds, 
golf courses, greenbelts, parks, and commercial and freeway 
landscaping throughout the district.  




The joint venture has recently opened the Rancho Las Virgenes 
Composting Facility, which  converts  into fertilizer the solids 
the Tapia plant removes from wastewater.  The finished product is 
a compost ideal for use as an economical soil additive for 
landscaping or the growing of turf grass.  It can also be used to 
manufacture top soil. 

"Our composting facility is one of a kind in the country in terms 
of size and degree of automation," Witbeck explained.

As a participant in the Energy Showcase project, the Tapia Water 
Reclamation Facility will serve as a demonstration facility, 
allowing other agencies to learn from its accomplishments.  

"The Energy Commission is encouraging every water supply district 
and every wastewater agency in the state to become as energy 
efficient as possible," said Sharpless.  "It makes good business 
sense.  Californians spend over half a billion dollars a year to 
pump and treat their water and sewage.  If every agency could cut 
its energy bill by 10 percent, the savings statewide would result 
in an additional $50 million a year that could be used to replace 
old pipes and aging infrastructure, improve water quality, and 
increase the amount of water recycling."

The Tapia Water Reclamation Facility processes wastewater from a 
122 square-mile area which includes the cities of Agoura Hills, 
Calabasas, Hidden hills and Westlake Village; portions of the 
City of Thousand Oaks; and unincorporated portions of Los Angeles 
and Ventura Counties. 


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For more information, contact:

Steve Witbeck, 
Water Reclamation Superintendent, 
Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, (818) 591-1207

Rob Schlichting, California Energy Commission, (916) 654-5159



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File name: 95_02_08_Tapia_Water_Honore