The Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts celebrated its 100th anniversary on Oct. 27.
The districts celebrated with a special event at its largest and oldest treatment plant, located in Carson, California. The event was attended by Sanitation Districts board members, retirees, and community leaders.
"Today, we mark 100 years of successful operations and want to acknowledge all the people that have contributed to the Districts' success," said Sanitation Districts Chief Engineer and General Manager Robert Ferrante, "especially the staff that day in and day out, on weekends, holidays, and during emergencies have kept our systems running, often in tough conditions, to protect public health and the environment."
The Sanitation Districts were founded in 1923 to collect and treat wastewater (sewage) on a regional level.
As Los Angeles County has grown, the agency has become one of the largest wastewater and solid waste management agencies in the world. Today, the agency serves 5.5 million people in 78 cities and unincorporated portions of Los Angeles County.
"The Sanitation Districts work is essential to our quality of life and economy. Without them, our beaches and rivers would be polluted, and we would not be recycling 100 million gallons of water per day," stated Sanitation Districts Board Chair Cathy Warner.
The Sanitation Districts have a long history of innovation, including:
- Converting biogas from wastewater treatment into enough energy to power its largest wastewater treatment plant beginning in 1938.
- Starting the nation's first wastewater recycling plant specifically designed for replenishing groundwater in 1962.
- Developing one of the largest water recycling programs in the world and producing over 1.2 trillion gallons of water over the past 60 years.
- Building power plants that convert biogas from decomposing trash into enough green energy for 80,000 people.
Over its history, the Sanitation Districts' mission has expanded to include converting waste into resources, like recycled water, green energy and recycled materials.
As part of the event, the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant was renamed the A.K. Warren Water Resource Facility after the agency's first Chief Engineer and to reflect the facility's mission to convert waste into resources.
