Rose Hills Memorial Park, located at the base of Puente Hills in Whittier, California, is known as the largest cemetery in the United States of America and measures 1,400 acres. It also has one of the oldest mausoleums in the Golden State. Apart from that though, it also holds another distinction, albeit a very unpleasant one, especially with the current drought that the Golden State is experiencing.
In a report by ABC7, the cemetery is said to be using 293 million gallons of clean water every year, an amount equivalent to many cities. Because of this, Rose Hills Memorial Park has announced that by the end of 2015, all the water used in the cemetery to maintain the grounds and decorative fountains will be recycled from previously used water. This is an action that will save drinking water for 2,000 to 3,000 homes in the area for a year.
According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal District, a company based in Monrovia, California, and Service Corporation International are helping in achieving the cemetery's goal.
The cemetery has the largest concentration of pipes with recycled water in the country, due to the new and existing pipes that are used due to a bill signed by California Governor Jerry Brown in 2013 for lesser costs.
As of this moment, only 60 percent of the park's area remains dependent on potable water for the cemetery's maintenance.
The project costs $1 million and is part of a process started by the cemetery 23 years ago to switch the cemetery from its present use of drinking water to recycled water. It was first brought up by an agreement with the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts.
The project was recently fast-tracked because of the drought that has been ravaging the state of California in the past four years.