Altman Plants Implements Water Recycling Program

Altman Plants continues to see significant water savings resulting from an on-site water-recycling program. Despite the state’s drought conditions, Altman Plants has developed a program to save water while still maintaining their ability to irrigate their plants.

The grower is using resources to capture irrigation runoff for reuse on the plants and lower their water use. This month, Altman celebrated more than 180 million gallons of water saved since the reuse program began operation.

Less than two years ago, Altman Plants secured grant funding from Western Municipal Water District and The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to implement a water-reuse system to water the nursery’s 200 acres of plants. The project includes a water recycling program with the ability to capture nursery irrigation runoff in lined ditches and reservoirs. The water is then stored and reused to water the nursery’s plants.

As one of Western’s larger water volume business customers, Altman Plants reuses approximately 360 acre-feet of water, which is equivalent to more than 117 million gallons in annual potable water savings. The associated water savings actually exceeds the project’s goal by 5.5 percent, according to Altman Plants.

For program information, visit the Western Municipal Water District website.