Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 5, 2007
4. Water Quality
SEWAGE CONTROL:
Sewage systems hit ratepayers in wallet; Santa Paula, Fillmore, Piru face rate hikes - Ventura County Star
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT:
City to celebrate treatment plant's expansion; Vacaville invites residents to attend facility's open house - Vacaville Reporter
SEWER UPGRADE:
Big stink about Colusa sewer; Spurned bidder cries foul after city awards contract - Marysville Appeal Democrat
SEWAGE CONTROL:
Sewage systems hit ratepayers in wallet;
By Tamara Koehler, staff writer
Murky plumes of wastewater flow into the
The sources are antiquated wastewater treatment facilities in
It's a scenario playing out across the nation. Aging, inadequate systems are pumping billions of gallons of untreated and undertreated sewage into the nation's water supply, costing millions of dollars in related healthcare costs, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
In a typical year, 74,000
The solution — building new sewage plants that meet current standards — is quickly becoming the No. 1 expense in cities large and small. The impact can be catastrophic for small towns that must raid already-lean budgets for new pipes and plants. Sewage rates once as low as $25 a month are being raised by as much as 500 percent to help defray the cost.
"It's a huge problem nationwide, and it will all fall back on ratepayers," said Reddy Pakala, director of Ventura County's Water and Sanitation Department, which oversees Piru's 33-year-old plant. "There are many, many water systems that are 70 to 100 years old. We are going to see more and more sewage rates doubling and tripling."
A new, $10 million plant must be built by 2009 in Piru, a town of 2,200 where more than half the families earn less than $50,000 a year and a third are on fixed incomes. Sewage rates will have to jump from $40 to $120 a month.
Nationally, the cost to upgrade and repair sewage infrastructure is in the billions, according to the American Water Works Association. The EPA estimates $390 billion will be needed over the next 20 years to replace existing systems and build new ones.
Delays increase construction costs
In
Now, the towns, which have the county's lowest per-capita incomes and highest minority populations, face even higher bills because construction costs have risen dramatically.
From 2000 to 2004, the plant was cited for 353 violations involving total solids, 527 involving coliform and 1,444 for turbidity, or murky water. The state ordered the city in 2001 to upgrade its sewage plant, which was built in 1939 and was last upgraded in the 1980s. Millions in fines have accumulated, and the city is seeking a settlement.
Fillmore, which was assessed a $264,000 civil penalty by the state in 2005 for violating discharge standards, faces a bill of $82 million for construction of a new sewage plant. Bert Rapp, the city's public works director, said the new plant will be state-of-the-art and able to meet the strictest of water quality regulations, present and future.
Expansion will be possible
Using a membrane technology that filters the smallest of microbes, the facility will be initially designed to handle 1.8 million gallons of sewage a day, with the capability for future expansion as the city of nearly 15,000 people grows.
The plant will be designed, built and operated for the next 20 years by American Water, a private operator.
The city won $3 million in state grants and sold bonds to pay the rest of the bill, instead of borrowing from a state revolving fund.
On July 1, the first of several rate hikes was implemented. Fillmore residents used to paying $25 a month are now paying $66. The rate will double again next year. New homes and businesses will have to pay $3,000 to hook up to the new system, in addition to the higher rates.
Not surprisingly, some residents are unhappy with the final cost.
"We think we're paying too much — a notice was sent out in 2003 that said a new plant would cost $24 million and the sewer bill would be $45 a month," said Gayle Washburn. "What happened to that?"
Settling for a Chevrolet
"If we have to settle for a Chevrolet versus a Cadillac, that's OK as long as it does the job and meets the state's requirements" for discharge, said Wally Bobkiewicz, city manager. "Many of our residents are poor or on fixed incomes and can't afford $70, $80, $100 sewer bills."
Chuck Kirman / Star staff Bert Rapp, Fillmore's public works director, stands above a secondary clarifier at the Fillmore Wastewater Treatment Facility. He said the city's new $82 million plant will be a state-of-the-art facility.
It's only a matter of time before ratepayers in other cities will be paying more as well, experts say.
Usually a city's most expensive facility
"Typically the most expensive facility in a city is a wastewater treatment plant," sometimes more costly than putting police on the street or funding retirement for employees, said Chuck Rogers, superintendent of Thousand Oaks' Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Plant.
"With infrastructure, it's OK maybe not to take the highest degree of care of it all the time, but when you don't do that for an extended time, you find yourself in big trouble, where it's so badly deteriorated you're facing the big bucks."
Stricter water quality regulations are driving the cost as well. "We all live in a large community that requires us to have restored and protected water quality," said Francine Diamond, chair of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. "We have to all participate in making sure our water is safe and public is safe. Health and safety must be protected — it's up to the cities to do that." #
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/jul/05/sewage-systems-hit-ratepayers-in-wallet/
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT:
City to celebrate treatment plant's expansion;
By Jennifer Gentile, staff writer
While a wastewater treatment plant may seem like an unconventional place for a celebration, the city of
The event will showcase the renovation and expansion that has been completed at the Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant, at
City Manager David Van Kirk said the improvements have cost around $100 million and have been at least six years in the making.
Assistant Public Works Director Dave Tompkins said planning began in 1996 while construction started around 2001, with Walsh Pacific Construction chosen as the main contractor.
The two sources of funding for the big- ticket project were development impact fees and fees from residential and commercial users.
A time-consuming part of the process, he said, was having a consultant complete an odor study, which led to the addition of odor-control facilities as part of the renovation work. Another well, which provides water lubrication in the plant's pumps, was added as well.
"By having two wells, it improves the reliability out here," Tompkins said.
The work also featured new belt presses, drying beds, flow meters and disinfection facilities, according to Tompkins. New construction included a new control building with a modern laboratory.
"We run tests every day of the week for two reasons," he explained. One is to "ensure the processes are working right" and another is the obligation to do regulatory compliance testing.
The city officials said
In the end, if the city is required to adopt more stringent treatment standards, the officials said the renovation and expansion were completed with that outcome in mind, and the plant thus is ready to accommodate further upgrades.
One of the main measurable benefits of the work, according to Van Kirk, is increased treatment capacity.
"The plant was originally treating right around 10 million gallons per day," Van Kirk. "Now, with the expansion, we've gone to 15 million. That's a pretty substantial expansion of treatment capacity."
Aside from the benefits to the general public, the city manager added, "Having this additional capacity is, I think, critical to our efforts in economic development. Backbone infrastructure like streets and water are all critical things people coming to our community or expanding here really look at closely."
Tompkins said city leaders and officials from neighboring communities are likely guests at the July 26 festivities. The dedication program is from 11 a.m. to noon, with an open house and public tours to follow from noon to 2 p.m. #
http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_6303972
SEWER UPGRADE:
Big stink about Colusa sewer; Spurned bidder cries foul after city awards contract
Marysville Appeal Democrat – 7/4/07
By Howard Yune, staff writer
Colusa has chosen a contractor for an extensive and expensive upgrade to its sewer plant – but not without a fight from a spurned bidder.
The City Council this week picked Auburn Constructors Inc. of
But one of three contractors the city rejected despite undercutting
“If this rejection stands, then we have to challenge it,” said Gar Bailey, president of Pacific Mechanical Corp. of Concord, which bid $14.9 million to rebuild the wastewater plant on Colusa’s west side.
Auburn Contractors Inc. won the city’s recommendation despite the third-highest estimate – $15.2 million – of the six companies who campaigned to overhaul the treatment plant.
All three council members present voted for
After bidding opened May 24, three companies offered lower bids than
Bailey protested the rejection as a technicality that denied the contract to a qualified company promising to finish the project for about $300,000 less than
“To call us not qualified is far from the truth, especially compared to who we’re up against,” Bailey told the council, adding that city staff could easily track down PMC’s partners to learn who would do what tasks.
But
“I understand how hectic things can be at the end of a bid,” he told council members. “But it’s up to all of us to finish the bid documents as required, or face the consequences.”
No one appeared to represent Mountain Cascade Inc. or RGW Construction, the other two companies whose bids Colusa rejected.
PMC can go to Colusa County Superior Court to try to set aside the bid, but the court cannot compel the city to give PMC the contract, according to City Attorney Steven P. Rudolph.
It was not immediately known how long a court case might delay work on the treatment plant.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board is requiring upgrades by Aug. 1, 2008.
The order dates to 2002, when the water quality board declared the city’s treatment plant released more ammonia and aluminum in its treated wastewater than state law allows.
The city won a five-year window to correct the problems and avoid fines, and the board in March gave Colusa an 18-month extension.
The city more than doubled monthly sewer rates two years ago, to about $57 per residence, to help pay the upgrade’s cost. Colusa also is awaiting state loans and grants, which it is to receive after awarding a construction bid. #
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/onset?id=50690&template=article.html
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