Santa Clarita Offers “Take the Rebate and Run” Program

In an effort to encourage the removal of all remaining water softeners in the Santa Clarita area, the Santa Clarita Sanitation District is offering 100% rebates ranging from about $325 to $2,000 dollars.

These rebates will be based on a "reasonable" value of the water softener, and removal and disposal by a licensed plumber will be included in the deal. This is good only for salt or potassium chloride based water softeners, not the exchange tanks that some pay for monthly or the water conditioners that don’t create the salty waste that the Sanitation District is trying to reduce with this rebate program.

"Most Santa Clarita Valley residents don’t have automatic water softeners, but everyone could experience quadrupled sewer rates because of the systems still in place," said Steve Maguin, Chief Engineer and General Manager for the Sanitation District. This is because of an earlier mandate that the Sanitiation District must reduce the amount of salt (chloride) content in its waste water, either by reducing the amount that is created by water softeners and other sources, or by building a treatment plant that would remove the salt from the waste water. It’s this treatment plant that would increase the sewer rates, and that’s what the Santa Clarita Sanitation District is attempting to avoid.

Installing water softeners in the Santa Clarita area became illegal in 2003, but there are still plenty of homes that have them in place. Consumers can research alternative solutions to the salt and potassium based water softeners on the Sanitation District’s website at LACSD.org/chloride.

So what are the rebate requirements? Here they are:

• Good for rock salt or potassium chloride based water softeners only.
• Must currently be installed in a house, multiplex, condominium, apartment, or mobile home in the Santa Clarita Valley.
• Must be currently connected to the sewer system.
• All units must be removed from the residence, but only one rebate will be paid per residence.