Los Alamos DPU Invites Public to Free White Rock Wastewater Facility Tour

The Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities is dubbing it "Tour De Sewer!" and opening the White Rock Water Resource Reclamation Facility to the public on Wednesday, April 8, with a free tour beginning at 10 a.m.

The event comes directly from public demand. According to a county news release, the tours are being offered in response to community interest following the launch of public wastewater plant tours by DPU earlier this year. Space is tight: each tour is capped at 10 participants.

Registrants will get a look at SCADA, the system DPU uses to continuously monitor all the wells, boosters and tanks in its network. After that demonstration, the group will visit a sampling of booster stations, wells and tanks in person. The county news release states the tour starts at 10 a.m. and is expected to last two hours, though an earlier notice listed the window as 10 to 11 a.m. Prospective attendees should confirm the exact end time with DPU before April 8.

The scale of what DPU manages puts the tour in context. The department's water production system includes 12 production wells, 25 tanks and 17 booster stations across the county's infrastructure.

Groups larger than 10 cannot join the public tour slots and are asked to schedule private tours separately. The contact for that is Victor Tanuz, reachable at Victor.Tanuz@lacnm.us or (505) 662-8157.

The April 8 open house is not the only chance to see county infrastructure this year. DPU has also scheduled three public tours of Los Alamos County's water production infrastructure on the second Fridays in July, August and September. Those tours are also free, but space is limited. The registration link for those summer dates was not included in the county release; interested residents should contact DPU directly for ticketing details.