A $1.9-million federal grant has been awarded to the Las Virgenes-Triunfo Joint Powers Authority for the construction of a recycled water pipeline.

“This will help us to expand our recycled water system and gives us more transmission capability as we increase use of the water throughout the service area,” said David Lippman, director of facilities and operations for the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District. “We are very excited about it.”

The joint powers authority serves customers in both the Las Virgenes and the Triunfo Sanitation districts. The two agencies will share the cost of the project, estimated to be between $4 million and $4.5 million. The grant, which covers 41 percent of the cost, comes from the Bureau of Reclamation’s Water Efficiency Challenge Grant Program, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The 9,000-foot pipeline will run from the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility, on Piuma and Malibu Canyon roads, north to Mulholland Highway and Las Virgenes Road. The 24inch diameter pipe will parallel an existing 18-inch pipeline.

“This offsets our need to import potable water,” Lippman said.

Recycled water is primarily used for landscape irrigation at schools, golf courses, cemeteries, road medians and community common areas.

The new pipe will allow the recycled water to be distributed to additional users.

Among the new customers to be given access to recycled water is the Westlake Village-YMCA community sports park currently under construction, Lippman said.

Before it is put into use, recycled water must undergo a filtration and disinfection process to remove toxic ammonia, bacteria and viruses, Lippman said. The water is then pumped through a series of pipelines to the water district headquarters site, where two pump stations forward the water to the district’s service areas in Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, North Ranch, Westlake Village, Oak Park and portions of Thousand Oaks.

Recycled water costs up to 20 percent less than potable water.

The pipeline work is expected to run from October to May, Lippman said.