On Saturday, in spite of a crushing California drought, the Waterworld water park in Concord opened for its 20th season, fending off criticism of its water use by citing a new machine called The Defender, which is a regenerative media filter. The Defender will recycle the pool water in the park so that the park will use no more than the one million gallons with which it starts the season, officials claim.
Al Garcia, Director of Marketing and Sales for Waterworld, told CBS San Francisco, “We want to be known as the park that takes the drought seriously,” adding that the park projects reducing water waste by 90% this year in order to meet or surpass Governor Jerry Brown’s 25% water mandatory water cutbacks.
Garcia said of The Defender, “This is a new thing, and we are one of the first to try it out.” Noting that the water in the pool will not be wasted, Garcia said, “Technically, you can drink out of them, but there is chlorine in our pools so we do advise not to drink the pool water.”
He told local Fox affiliate KTVU, “We don’t take the one million gallons and flush it down the drain and refill each day. That’s a common misconception with water parks. The water we have here is in a closed circulation system and we only top off as needed.”
Garcia concluded, “When you come out to Waterworld California know that you’re being water conscious … Our guests won’t notice any difference in their experience.”
The Defender is only part of Waterworld’s strategy to cut down on water use; in addition, grass in the park has been replaced by AstroTurf and plants will not be watered.