The process of turning used toilet water into H20 that is clean enough to drink — but in practice is used to water parks, golf courses and median strips — is one of those big industrial productions that happens out of the public eye.

But the city of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation has unveiled a new education center at its wastewater treatment plant south of Playa del Rey that aims to pull back the curtain, particularly for the benefit of schoolchildren.

With the cutting of a ribbon by a scissor-wielding Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the bureau on Monday celebrated the grand opening of the Los Angeles Environmental Learning Center at the Hyperion Treatment Plant.

The center, which features interactive exhibits that are visual and, in some cases, combine education with video gaming, is open for field trips. Sanitation officials say all grades are welcome, but add that the exhibits are best suited for students in grades four through eight.

Garcetti wasn’t the only politician on hand at the plant, which, situated on the bluffs above the Dockweiler RV Park, overlooks the Pacific Ocean. Also in attendance was Los Angeles Councilman Mike Bonin, whose plastic sunglasses with bright-orange frames added a streak of L.A. flair to his sensible shirt-and-tie ensemble.

“This place is wicked cool,” he gushed during the ceremony prior to the ribbon-cutting. “To have this view, and to be able to go in there and play … I’m heartbroken at the idea of having to go to an office later.”

In addition to illustrating how wastewater is recycled, the learning center strives to extoll the virtues of watershed protection and all things related to sustainability.

The three-story, 20,000 square-foot facility — a renovated administration building — includes an 87-seat auditorium and a learning center.

There are no shortage of touchscreens. In one, beneath a monitor depicting a virtual fish tank filled with swimming cartoon sea creatures, viewers make a sustainability promise, such as “I promise to turn off the water when brushing my teeth.” The viewer then “signs” the promise by typing his or her name into a field, and a new cartoon fish appears, named after the viewer.

One exhibit amounts to a group video game in which teams line up on either side of a table-shaped screen with recyclable items traveling down a virtual conveyor belt. The object of the game is to pick out the bits that don’t belong, such as food, clothing and electronics.

Another asks a trick question: Where does new water come from? Answer: There is no new water.

On display are all manner of items created out of recyclable items. A hand purse made of aluminum pull tabs from soda cans. A wall clock made of recycled newspaper. A violin made of trash — an example of the instruments used by members of a youth orchestra from a village built atop a landfill in Paraguay.

As for the Hyperion facility at 12000 Vista del Mar, it is the largest water reclamation plant of its kind west of the Mississippi, and the sixth largest in the world. Most of the 300 million gallons it treats on a daily basis are returned to the ocean. Its mission is to protect the Santa Monica Bay.

In his remarks, Garcetti — who authored Proposition O, meant to ensure cleaner L.A. waterways and storm runoff — addressed a group of about 30 students from Thomas Starr King Middle School, which in 2011 successfully persuaded the Los Angeles Unified School District to ban plastic foam food trays.

“When I was your age, I hated hearing people say, ‘You’re the leaders of tomorrow,’ ” he said. “Because guess what, you’re not. You’re the leaders of today. You will change the behavior in your household, of your parents, of your community, of your neighborhood.”