Monday, April 20, Rosary’s AP Environmental Science class took a field trip to the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) and the Orange County Water District (OCWD). On this trip, students toured the facilities and learned more about how water gets recycled and distributed.
To begin the day, Royals started at the OCSD, where students were shown an information video on everything OCSD does. After watching, Royals were given protective headgear and vests before getting on a bus and beginning the tour!
Students got to walk through the premises and see the different buildings, processes and tools themselves. Students were surprised not only by the vast technology at the facility, but also by the fact that the crew at OCSD had their own ecosystem of turtles and koi fish, sustained by their very own water!
Royal attendee Tahlia Jain ’26 commented, “I really enjoyed the field trip. I found it interesting to learn about something important that doesn’t usually get much attention. The turtles we saw were also so cute!” I have to admit, I did not expect to see the turtles and koi fish, but it was undoubtedly my favorite part of the trip.
After an amazing tour, the Royals made their way over to the next one at the Orange County Water District. The OCWD is where water purification takes its final steps to become fully purified and safe for consumption. Here, the Royals were also shown an informational video and given goodie bags and vests to begin the tour. This facility, although similar in function, was laid out very differently from OCSD.
Water from the OCWD is piped to OCSD, where the water undergoes its final steps of purification through contamination removal using reverse osmosis, microfiltration, and finally, UV/AC decarbonization, where the water is fully recycled and made safe to drink.
At the end of the tour, students got to try the recycled water and give their thoughts on the whole process. Diana Penaloza ’26 was at first apprehensive about trying the water, but upon trying, commented that, “the taste kind of surprised me. It tasted normal.”
Fun fact: OCWD and OCSD hold a Guinness World Record for being the biggest water sanitizing district of its kind in the world!
After their taste test, Royals went back to the main building for a quick game of Kahoot and to grab their goodies. Overall, the Royals had a great day of off-campus learning.
