The Pure Water Project Las Virgenes-Triunfo is the region's landmark initiative to create a local, drought-resilient drinking water supply while permanently protecting Malibu Creek. The project takes surplus recycled water from the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility and purifies it to drinking water standards through a new Advanced Water Purification Facility (AWPF), then delivers it to Las Virgenes Reservoir to blend with existing supplies before final treatment at the Westlake Filtration Plant. This approach — known as indirect potable reuse — uses the reservoir as a natural environmental buffer. When fully operational, the project is expected to supply up to 30% of the region's drinking water, reducing dependence on imported water from Northern California.

Helps Protect Malibu Creek

Every winter, when recycled water demand drops, surplus water from Tapia is discharged into Malibu Creek. Increasingly stringent regulatory requirements — including new nutrient limits that conventional treatment cannot meet — have made continued creek discharges both environmentally unsustainable and costly. The Pure Water Project effectively eliminates those discharges by redirecting that water to the AWPF instead, turning what was once a regulatory liability into a valuable new water asset. Without the project, the alternative would be more than $200 million in upgrades to Tapia just to maintain compliance. 

How the AWPF Works

The Advanced Water Purification Facility (AWPF) is a state-of-the-art treatment plant, currently in construction, located on Agoura Road in Agoura Hills. It applies a three-step purification process — membrane filtration (MF), reverse osmosis (RO), and ultraviolet light with advanced oxidation (UV-AOP) — to produce water that meets or exceeds California drinking water standards. The technology has been piloted and demonstrated at the Pure Water Demonstration Facility, which has hosted hundreds of public tours and trained operators in preparation for full-scale operations. 

The AWPF is designed with a 7.5-MGD (million gallons per day) influent capacity and an 18-MGD ultimate capacity, with initial production projected at approximately 2,100 acre-feet per year (AFY), growing to a 2040 goal of 5,000 AFY as augmentation sources are developed. The facility is being built in partnership with Walsh Construction, Jacobs Engineering, and Brown and Caldwell.

Cost and Funding

The Pure Water Project carries a total estimated cost of approximately $466 million. Funding sources are diverse, as illustrated by the chart below.

 

Oak Tree Mitigation

Construction of the AWPF site requires the removal of protected native oak trees, triggering mitigation requirements under CEQA, the Los Angeles County Oak Tree Ordinance, and the City of Agoura Hills Oak Tree Preservation Ordinance. 

The Oak Tree Mitigation Plan — developed by Urban Water Group and reviewed by the City of Agoura Hills and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife — calls for planting 121 replacement oaks (17 Quercus agrifolia and 104 Quercus lobata) across approximately 5.4 acres of City-owned and District-owned parcels. The plan is designed to create a thriving oak woodland ecosystem, not simply replace trees one-for-one. 

What This Means for Customers

By adding a new, local source of water, LV is improving water reliability for customers and ensuring continued prosperity in our region. The Pure Water project will improve our resilience to supply challenges due to climate change, while protecting customers from sky-high water rates associated with dependence on imported supplies. By making this landmark infrastructure investment, LVMWD seeks to secure our water future.

For more information and to schedule a tour of the Pure Water Demonstration Facility, visit www.ourpureH2O.com.