Residents of Somis will no longer have to deal with discolored, but safe, water. The Ventura County Public Works Agency – Water & Sanitation has started installing wellhead treatment to filter out the excess naturally occurring minerals that cause the discoloration.

Somis is in the Ventura County Water District No. 19, which provides water supply and distribution services to area customers. District No. 19 currently has approximately 1,051 monthly service accounts, comprising 781 residential accounts, 235 agricultural accounts, and 35 commercial and industrial accounts.

The water supply in Somis comes from local wells, supplemented with water purchased from the Calleguas Municipal Water District in Thousand Oaks.

The water pumped from Well No. 2, located on Bradley Road, contains higher concentrations of iron and manganese, which can create a milky, brownish, or sometimes reddish, color. Although safe to drink, it is not aesthetically pleasing to use for washing clothes, drinking or other typical residential uses. The California Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, has mandated that the district install wellhead treatment to improve the water quality before it enters the supply system.

“I know this project has been years in the making, and I want to thank Senator Hannah Beth Jackson and Senator Limon for their work in securing the funds from the State of California for our town of Somis,” said County Supervisor Linda Parks. “As we celebrate this groundbreaking, it’s wonderful to know that the community of Somis will get this needed improvement to their drinking water and it will be carried out by our incredibly experienced team.” 

The Well No. 2 iron and manganese removal facilities project includes the installation of three horizontal greensand filters, a reclaim tank and chemical treatment facilities. District 19 already has a similar treatment facility at Well No. 4, located on Balcom Canyon Road. 

“We are proud to build this treatment facility to improve the water quality for the residents and businesses of Somis,” said Joe Pope, Director of Water and Sanitation. “Without this project, the State would require us to replace the affordable, local groundwater from Well 2 with more expensive imported water.” 

The $2,370,000 project is funded by a grant from the state of California and a low-interest loan from the county of Ventura. It is expected to be completed by April 2022. The contractor is Bowe Contractors Inc., with design services provided by Michael Baker Inc. and MSO Technologies.