Regional Water Quality Control Board issues fine for violations of the California Water Code.

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board recently fined the owners of the Paradise Ranch Mobile Home Park in Castaic $1,028,553 for failure to follow the agreed-upon guidelines for treatment of the wastewater from that development.

The property’s owners, Santiago Associates, LLC, must either pay the fine by April 24 or show up at the hearing set for that date to present their case. At issue is the discharge of excessive amounts of regeneration brine from the Park’s water softeners and the Park’s central ion-exchange system into the wastewater treatment plant and the chlorination basin of the Paradise Ranch Water Treatment Plant.

According to the Board, "Reclaimed water used for the irrigation of landscape and spray field shall be at all times an adequately disinfected, oxidized, wastewater. The wastewater shall be considered adequately disinfected if…coliform organisms [from fecal matter] does not exceed 240 per 100 milliliters in any two consecutive samples." The Board states that the Paradise Ranch facility exceeded this limit on a regular basis from the 4th quarter of 1998 through the 2nd quarter of 2005.

The fine is based on a $300/day penalty for failure to comply for 2,387 days plus the calculated economic benefit of sub-standard operations of $284,453 plus Water Board staff time at $70/hour for 400 hours.

So what does this all mean?  "It is critical that we protect our drinking water sources by properly managing wastewater," said David Nahai, chair of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. "Elevated levels of salt in water make it undrinkable. Consuming water with coliform can result in serious illness, including gastroenteritis."

Translation: Salty, poopy water can be bad for your health!

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