Vallecitos Behind-the-Scenes

*The annual Water Academy Tour was held on October 17, 2024.  If you would like to register or be notified of the next tour, which should be held around October of 2025, please complete the registration form.... Note: This tour is for adult customers only and attendees must be registered in advance. For groups, please enter each person individually on the registration form.

Have you ever wondered how your drinking water is treated and delivered to your home or business, or how the water from your toilets and sinks is recycled to such high standards that it can be used for irrigation?  You can have these and more questions answered by getting a behind-the-scenes look during our FREE award winning Water Academy tour.

Our certified water and wastewater specialists offer customers a first-hand look at what it takes to operate the Vallecitos Water District and provide reliable, exceptional and sustainable water and wastewater service to the more than 100,000 residents in our service area. Participants board a chartered bus for a first-hand look at the District’s 33-million-gallon and 40-million-gallon capacity Twin Oaks Reservoirs, currently said to be the largest of their kind in the world. The grand finale of the tour is a visit to the District’s Meadowlark Water Reclamation Facility in Carlsbad, capable of recycling up to 74% of the wastewater generated in our service area. At this facility, participants learn how microorganisms help clean the water and see how increased capacity from the recent plant upgrade benefits the community by lowering the overall demand for limited, imported water.

In addition to these destinations, other tour highlights include seeing how specialized equipment is used in the field to keep the wastewater flowing, visiting the Water Operations Department's computerized control room to see how the District ensures that the drinking water is safe, and touring the Sustainable Demonstration Garden where participants will learn easy steps to conserve water during this critical water supply period. Various presentations will also be given at the beginning of the tour where participants will hear an overview of the District and have an opportunity to have questions answered by staff and District Board members.

From conservation-leading, forward-thinking projects like the Meadowlark plant upgrade to the unique educational aspect of the Water Academy tour itself, Vallecitos Water District has proven itself a community leader ready to use out-of-the-box thinking to meet its customers’ demands.

To get a glimpse of what you'll see on the Water Academy Tour, please read this article or watch the video below of a previous tour: