Public Works Director Bert Rapp.

The Fillmore Water Recycling Program has been selected the Ventura County American Public Works Association (APWA) project of the year in the Wastewater and Water category. In addition APWA selected the Fillmore project to represent all Ventura County Public Agency projects as the Project of the Year at the National Engineers Week Banquet at the Reagan Library on Thursday, February 18th. “It is very wonderful that the American Public Works Association has selected the Fillmore Water Recycling Program to be Project of the Year out of 10 excellent projects around the County,” said Bert Rapp, Fillmore Public Works Director. Some of the other candidate projects were the Toland Road Sludge Drying Facility and the Thousand Oaks Photo Voltaic system at their Sewage Treatment Plant.

“The Fillmore project was selected because of an innovative management approach and due to its many unique characteristics,” said Chris Hook with APWA. For example the "Design-Build-Operate" procurement process helped assure that the plant was as efficient and economical as possible. It also included an exacting quality assurance program so that the plant would have low maintenance costs for 20 years.

Another unique aspect is that the project included about 20 acres of subsurface drip irrigation in a park and school yards that provides water conservation, as well as wet weather disposal capability during rain events. Disposal during rain events is critical to eliminating treated sewer effluent discharges to the river.

According to Bert Rapp, Fillmore Public Works Director, a special challenge in Fillmore was building the project in partnership with other activities occurring in the City. For example the Fillmore Business Park needed a levee along the Sespe Creek as did the treatment plant site so the Water Recycling Program built the entire levee and was reimbursed about $2 Million by the business park for its fair share. To eliminate river discharge the Water Recycling Program needed a surface holding area for major flood events. The new Two Rivers Park provides this area and as a result the Program funded the special grading for Two Rivers Park and the subsurface drip irrigation system for the park. Without these cooperative approaches the Two Rivers Park could not have been built and the Business Park, which brings jobs to Fillmore, may not have gone forward.

The project has also converted the Middle School, Sespe Elementary School and High School playgrounds to recycled water significantly reducing demand on the potable water system and reducing overall energy usage for that irrigation. Because the Fillmore Water Recycling Project conserves and reuses water it also won a $3,050,000 Proposition 50 grant.

These unique cost-effective implementation strategies, partnering to share costs and maximize benefits, along with water conservation measures are what won the Project of the Year award for the Fillmore Water Recycling Program stated Hook.

Rapp expressed thanks for the honor, saying, “Its been just been a tremendous job to benefit the community, beautify the community, handle our water resources wisely, conserve water and conserve energy.”