Santa Clarita Valley bans water softeners

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Santa Clarita Valley homeowners will have to get rid of their automatic water softeners next year under a measure approved by voters last week. The softeners discharge a salty mixture into the sewage system and eventually the Santa Clara River, causing problems for downstream agriculture.

Rather than embark on an expensive upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant to remove the salts, the local sanitation district has been on an anti-softener campaign. Installation has been barred since 2003 and several thousand softeners have been removed under a rebate program. But there are still an estimated 3,000 units in use.

The Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District now gives residents 100% of the ‘reasonable value’ of a unit, in addition to paying for its removal and disposal. Come Jan. 1, the rebate falls to 75% of the softener’s value. The link above also provides information on water-softening techniques not affected by the ban.

— Bettina Boxall