Pepperdine had planned to build a joint water reclamation facility with the neighboring housing development to be built on land owned by the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), a neighborhood which today is called Malibu Country Estates.¹ The half-million-dollar facility would no longer be ready in time for the campus's September opening, however, and a new plan for a temporary system of septic tanks was awaiting approval from the county.²

Homeowners in Malibu had long opposed a sewer system in what was at that time an unincorporated part of LA County, preferring to install private septic tanks or cesspools for every home. Just five months earlier, on election day in November 1971, residents of Malibu had voted down a plan to construct a public sewer.³

Pepperdine had a strong working relationship with the county board of supervisors, which allowed it to seek permits during the construction phase for projects that generally would require prior approval. The Graphic quoted Malibu provost Jerry Hudson as saying, "Normally, you do these things sequentially, but we are doing them simultaneously."¹