Three years into construction, the massive East County Advanced Water Purification Program is approaching the finish line late next year when the region’s sewage now being treated at Point Loma will be pumped to a new Santee plant and converted to drinkable, purified water. Last month, the four-person board that oversees the more than $1 billion AWP project approved a $34 million allocation for another phase of Package 5 of the project that broke ground in mid-2022. There are five packages for the AWP that is a collaboration among four agencies—Padre Dam Municipal Water District, San Diego County, the city of El Cajon, and Helix Water District.