On Thursday, September 25, a green construction-barrier fence went up around the fountains and pools in front of the Oceanside Civic Center. The water was drained and construction began on September 29 to retrofit the aging fountains. In the city’s effort to reduce water usage, the fountain will be converted to use recycled water.

City engineer Gary Smith said the fountains holds anywhere from 75,000 to 90,000 gallons of water. In his engineering report for the project, Smith calculated the fountains lose around 480 gallons a week, not always from evaporation. “There is some seepage in addition to dogs or humans getting in the water. People take showers out there,” Smith said, even though it’s against city regulations to get into fountain‘s water.

Based on average current water prices for residential users in Oceanside, it’s costing the city less than $3 per week to replace the disappearing water.

However, the city, like most Southern California communities, is under statewide mandatory water restrictions. The city must comply with Governor Brown’s water-conservation mandates, which includes turning off fountains or employing the use of recycled water.

The city council felt it was better to spend $355,440 to retrofit the fountains rather than turn them off as they did during the last drought period.

Former four-term city councilman Sam Williamson says the fountains should have been ahead of their time, when it came to recycling. “They were originally designed to have the water recycled, as part of the air-conditioning system. For some reason [after he was out of office] that never happened,” he said.

The city plans to tap into the reclaimed water line coming out of Camp Pendleton. The project is expected to be completed by next spring.