Cleaning the water, clearing the memories

Deepa Bharath

CORONA DEL MAR -- The spring of 1952 at Little Corona Beach is still

fresh in Jack Skinner’s mind. It was the time he met the woman of his

dreams, now his wife.

Skinner was a lifeguard, she a young college student who came to the

beach for Spring Break.

He and others who have countless memories embedded in the sands of one

of the most charming and treasured beaches in the area are now engrossed

in an attempt to save its natural beauty and inherent value.

On Friday, local agencies and residents got together to test a machine

they believe will clean the dirty water that has been streaming into the

ocean.

The mobile runoff filtration equipment sucks the surface runoff from

the nearby gully and pumps it back twice as clean as drinking water, said

Joe Gannon, president of Clear Creek Systems that supplies the machines.

Surface runoff is essentially the water that cascades from the city’s

homes and streets into the tide pools. It could contain anything from

human and animal waste to cigarette butts or candy wrappers thrown on the

street.

The filtration machine is a bigger version of the water purifiers used

in homes, said Gannon. More than 100,000 gallons of water flows through

the gully every day.

The machine uses reverse osmosis technology to filter sediments and

ultraviolet rays to kill bacteria that makes the water crystal clear, he

said.

“People are still not prepared to drink the reclaimed water,” said

Gannon, “but it can easily be used for irrigation, showers and toilets.”

The testing was made possible thanks to an anonymous donation of

$50,000 to Orange County Coastkeeper, officials said. The first testing

phase has cost $8,000 so far.

The next phase, said Coastkeeper Garry Brown, is to clean the runoff

and divert it to homes, developments or even possibly the neighboring

Pelican Hill Golf Course.

“It’s a joint venture between us, the city, county, the regional water

board and the residents,” he said. “If we can find a solution for this

problem, it can be replicated in other areas that face similar problems.”

Project director Michael Beanan said the runoff also harmed precious

marine life in the area.

“This water is fresh water that mixes into the ocean,” he explained.

“It affects the kelp and other organisms in the sea that need salt water,

not fresh water.”

Resident Nancy Gardner, who is active in the environmental Surfrider

Foundation, said she wants the beach back to how it was several years

ago.

“This is my beach and I have an emotional attachment to it,” said

Gardner. “This is like a hide out for us local people. We need to clean

it up.”