Since 1970, the Sanitation Districts have been monitoring and researching how cleaned water from the A.K. Warren Water Resource Facility (formerly known as the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant) affects the ocean. This program ensures protection of public health and the environment.

Our efforts include measuring natural variations, as well as conducting biological, chemical and oceanographic  studies in all the habitats off the Palos Verdes Peninsula, where the treatment plant’s cleaned water is discharged.

We monitor coastal water quality, assessing the nearshore and offshore receiving waters of the peninsula through analysis of parameters such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, chlorophyll and light penetration.  The Sanitation Districts’ scientific dive team conducts scuba surveys of nearshore rocky reef habitat to assess the diverse biological communities within kelp forests.

Offshore, animals (benthic infauna) living in the soft seafloor sediments are identified, counted and used to assess the health of the biological community. Sediment is analyzed for chemical contaminants (pollutants).  Demersal fish (animals living on or near the seafloor) and macroinvertebrates are surveyed to assess the health of the marine ecosystem.  The tissue from a variety of fish is analyzed for contaminants.  This ocean monitoring is conducted using research vessels, including the Districts’ 66-foot-long vessel, the Ocean Sentinel.

The Sanitation Districts routinely measure the level of bacteria in the ocean (inshore and offshore) to ensure that all public health standards for swimming and shellfish harvesting are met.

Cleaned water from the Warren Facility is discharged to the ocean through ocean outfalls (piping on the ocean floor) about a mile and a half offshore and 200 feet deep.  These outfalls allow for the quick mixing of the plant’s cleaned water with the ocean.  The Sanitation Districts’ scientific dive team and a remotely operated vehicle routinely inspect the ocean outfall system.  These inspections ensure the structural integrity and continued reliable operation of the outfall system.

A virtual tour covering some of our ocean monitoring programs can be found on the Sanitation Districts' YouTube channel.

Sanitation Districts’ staff routinely measure the levels of bacteria in the ocean (inshore and offshore) to ensure that all public health standards for swimming and shellfish harvesting are met.

The Sanitation Districts have ocean outfalls (piping on the ocean floor) that allow discharge of the cleaned water from the Warren Facility and quick mixing with ocean water.  The Sanitation Districts’ scientific dive team and a remotely operated vehicle inspect the Sanitation Districts’ ocean outfall system. These inspections ensure the structural integrity and continued safe operation of the outfall system.

Results from the various ocean monitoring programs are provided to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and other interested parties through a series of reports.

The virtual tour of the ocean monitoring field demonstration via Ocean Sentinel can be found at Sanitation Districts' YouTube channel.