Water containing wastes – aka wastewater – from residential,
commercial and industrial processes requires treatment to remove
pollutants prior to discharge. After treatment, the water is
suitable for nonconsumption (nonpotable) and even potable use.
In California, water recycling is a critical component of the
state’s efforts to use water supplies more efficiently. The state
presently recycling about 669,000 acre-feet of water per year and
has the potential to reuse an additional two million acre-feet
per year.
Non-potable uses include:
landscape and crop irrigation
stream and wetlands enhancement
industrial processes
recreational lakes, fountains and decorative ponds
toilet flushing and gray water applications
as a barrier to protect groundwater supplies
from seawater intrusion
wetland habitat creation, restoration, and maintenance
Adam Wraight pulled a blue sewage “warning” sign out of the
sand near Imperial Beach Pier on Thursday morning, replacing it
with the more ominous yellow and red placard telling beachgoers
that waters were officially closed. … Shorelines from
the border up through Coronado were closed to swimming Thursday
as the result of a pipeline that ruptured in Tijuana near
Smuggler’s Gulch over the weekend. Sewage has been spilling
over the border into the river’s estuary for days, but it’s
just now making its way to the ocean and floating up the coast
on surging northward currents.
Researchers at Stanford University and Emory University have
launched a nationwide initiative to monitor monkeypox,
COVID-19, and other infectious diseases in communities by
measuring viral genetic material in wastewater. The effort will
also provide health officials and the public with free,
high-quality data, which is critical to informing public health
decision making. The initiative is already producing data,
including the first detections of monkeypox DNA in wastewater
in the United States.
Monterey Peninsula residents will have the opportunity to share
their perspectives and give feedback on local water issues next
week. California American Water will host a community forum
from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9 at CSU Monterey Bay. Cal Am
staff, engineers, consultants and customer service
representatives will be in attendance to discuss water
resources. One of the main topics up for discussion at next
week’s forum will be the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply
Project — a proposed solution to the water crisis on the
Peninsula. The project aims to reduce existing water use on the
Peninsula by replacing reliance on the Carmel River.
Federal officials crossed the border Tuesday morning to assess
the damage from the latest sewage disaster on the Baja side.
The good news is that Tijuana isn’t currently pumping sewage to
a broken wastewater treatment plant called Punta Bandera that
effectively spills it, untreated, straight into the Pacific
Ocean. The bad news is, that’s because at least one of a
critical set of pipes that gets it there is completely busted
in half. The other is precariously perched atop a crumbling
cliff face. That means a lot of the sewage that would
otherwise be flushed into the sea about six miles south of the
border is making its way into the Tijuana River. The river’s
mouth empties into the ocean just below the city of Imperial
Beach….
The owner of an aging gas-fired power plant along California’s
southern coast won’t be required to pay fines for some water
pollution it causes through 2023, state water officials voted
Tuesday. The Redondo Beach Generating Station is one of four
coastal power plants that were set to close in 2020 but had
their operating lives extended to 2023. The state is keeping
them open in an effort to avoid power blackouts on hot summer
days when there may not be enough renewable energy available as
people crank up their air conditioners.
Leasing for new oil and gas drilling on federal land in central
California is temporarily blocked under a
settlement announced Monday between the state and the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management. … Fracking is the process of
injecting a high-pressure mix of mostly water with some sand
and chemical additives into rock to create or expand fractures
that allow oil and gas to be extracted. It’s a controversial
practice due to concerns about the injected chemicals
contaminating groundwater.
A new Fresno EOC program is offering as much as $2,000 to help
low-income residents pay past-due water and sewer
bills. But you need to act quickly to receive the one-time
grants, which will be distributed on a first-come, first-served
basis. The program ends in August 2023. Fresno EOC
officials say the grants are for households that are in danger
of losing or have lost their water services. According to
the State Water Resources Control Board, about half a million
Californians have had water shutoffs since 2019 due to
nonpayment.
California’s Gold Rush is known for making many people rich and
inflating the population of the then-young state, but it also
resulted in the creation of the nation’s first environmental
law. As gold mining went from individuals with gold pans raking
the bottom of creek beds to industries using the latest
technologies to strip precious ores from California’s
hillsides, the impact on the surrounding environment became
more severe. Hydraulic mining was a growing form of industrial
mining, in which high-pressure water would blast out of water
cannons, known as monitors, into hillsides to wash away dirt
and rocks to uncover the gold beneath.
With California in the grip of yet another severe drought,
water managers across the Golden State must find ways to
protect and conserve existing supplies as much as possible.
Against this backdrop, the advocacy organization the Pacific
Institute estimated in a recent report the extent to which
increased water-efficiency measures could reduce California’s
urban water use. The organization also has quantified the
potential boost to local water supplies from expanded water
reuse and stormwater capture efforts in the state.
A company operating a sand-mining facility in Alameda County
will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle charges
that it discharged untreated wastewater into Alameda Creek last
year, officials with the state Water Resources Control Board
(WRCB) said Thursday. Mission Valley Rock must pay nearly the
statutory limit after it allegedly discharged 41,000 gallons of
untreated wastewater from its Sunol facility in March. The
total settlement is $368,940. According to the WRCB, Mission
Valley Rock failed to properly decommission a pipeline, which
then ruptured, depositing several inches of sediment in the
creek bed and along the bank.
Boaters and river users are being asked to help keep our area
waterways clean during these hot months. The city of Sacramento
is kicking off its annual “Keep Our Waters Clean” campaign to
help protect the Sacramento and American Rivers. The two
rivers are the primary drinking water source for the
region. The department is asking boaters to keep engine
oil and fuel out of the water and keep boat bilges clean of
contamination as well. Anyone on or along the river is
also asked to use restrooms and pick up after pets to keep
human and animal waste out of the water.
Water has always been recycled. The water molecules in your
shower or cup of coffee might just be the same molecules that
rained on dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago. With the
technological advancements in water recycling, however, the
water that went down your sink this morning might be back in
your tap sooner than you think. The city of Los Angeles and
agencies across Southern California are looking into what’s
known as “direct potable reuse,” which means putting purified
recycled water directly back into our drinking water systems.
…. Their efforts hinge on the State Water Resources Control
Board, which has been tasked by legislators to develop a set of
uniform regulations on direct potable reuse by Dec. 31, 2023.
The heavy storms that soaked the Bay Area last October ended
fire season and brought hope — dashed during dry winter months
later — that the state’s drought might be ending. But while
millions of people were celebrating the downpour the week
before Halloween, the rains also caused an environmental
headache in the East Bay, overwhelming a wastewater treatment
plant and sending 16.5 million gallons of partially treated
sewage into San Francisco Bay. On Monday, state regulators and
the East Bay Municipal Utility District, a government agency
that operates the plant at Point Isabel in Richmond, agreed to
settle the case in a deal that requires the district to pay
$816,000 for violations of clean water rules.
When it comes to slaking Southern California’s colossal thirst
for water, more and more local governments are searching their
own sewer lines for a solution. In the face of dire drought,
cities and water agencies are now investing heavily in
large-scale wastewater recycling facilities — systems that will
purify the billions of gallons of treated sewage that are
currently flushed out to sea. Among the massive water recycling
initiatives now under development in Los Angeles County are a
$3.4-billion plant at the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant
in Carson and Operation Next — a roughly $16-billion plan from
the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to purify up to
100% of the wastewater processed by the Hyperion Water
Reclamation Plant and put it to good use.
Every day, Arizonans dump a small flood of drinking water down
the drain, whether by running the shower or washing their
clothes. It seems like an untapped reservoir for water
conservation: Unlike “black water” — from sewage, kitchen sinks
and dishwashers — much of the “gray water” from clothes
washers, bathtubs, showers or sinks remains clean enough for
other household uses. … Although the state has some
loose guidelines for gray water systems, homeowners can install
them with little or no oversight …
The agency managing the East County Advanced Water Purification
(AWP) program took another step toward legally confiscating a
sewage pumping station that now belongs to the city of San
Diego. Earlier this month, the Joint Powers Authority for AWP
filed a complaint in San Diego Superior Court asking the court
to grant the JPA eminent domain rights for the station, located
at the western border of Santee, on Mission Gorge Road next to
the west-bound ramp for SR 52.
A company operating a sand mining facility in Alameda County
must pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle allegations
it discharged untreated wastewater into Alameda Creek last
year, officials with the State Water Resources Control Board
said Thursday. Mission Valley Rock Company must pay nearly
the statutory limit after it allegedly discharged 41,000
gallons of untreated wastewater from its Sunol facility in
March 2021.
Balancing how much protein you eat with the amount your body
needs could reduce nitrogen releases to aquatic systems in the
U.S. by 12% and overall nitrogen losses to air and water by 4%,
according to a study from the University of California, Davis.
Protein consumption in the United States, from both plant and
animal sources, ranks among the highest in the world. The
study, published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the
Environment, said that if Americans ate protein at recommended
amounts, projected nitrogen excretion rates in 2055 would be
27% less than they are today despite population
growth.
East County officials fear a $950 million sewage recycling
project could get flushed down the drain because of a pipeline
deal gone awry. Leaders spearheading the endeavor blame San
Diego Mayor Todd Gloria — who signed off on building an
eight-mile “brine line” as recently as last year but has since
reneged on that commitment. The pipeline would prevent
concentrated waste generated by the East County project’s
reverse osmosis filtration system from entering into the city’s
own $5 billion Pure Water sewage recycling project now under
construction.
In a hearing Tuesday, the State Environmental Commission
affirmed a contested water pollution control permit for the
Thacker Pass lithium mine, a procedural step forward for a
project that has faced concerns from several environmental
groups, Native American tribes and local ranchers. The
state permit, issued by the Nevada Division of Environmental
Protection in February, would allow the mine to proceed if it
meets certain requirements. Among those requirements are
measures to prevent tailings, the byproducts of ore, from
contaminating the environment, should water seep through the
waste materials, which will contain chemicals used to process
and extract lithium.
I’ve got a question for you: would you drink sewer water? Yeah,
I’m not sure I would. But recycled wastewater might be in all
our futures. To understand why, my colleague Erin Stone has a
pretty enlightening story you need to read. We all know
California has a water problem. The Colorado River, where we
get most of our water in Southern California, is going through
a “megadrought,” the worst in 1,200 years. Greenhouse gases
just make it worse. As temperatures rise, less snow falls. That
means there’s less snow melt to fill up our rivers and
reservoirs.
As a member of Congress from the nation’s driest state, Rep.
Susie Lee has a major stake in the health of the Colorado River
Basin, which is currently enduring historic drought. … In
office, Lee has pushed for federal funding for an array of
“common-sense solutions” to the crisis—including water
recycling … Last year, she authored a measure that will make
hundreds of millions of dollars available for water recycling
projects. But Lee’s interest in this issue appears to be more
than simply political. The two-term Democrat also has a portion
of her considerable personal wealth invested in a company that
stands to benefit from the water recycling legislation she has
championed.
A new, large-scale local water supply in development for the
region is getting a new name – Pure Water Southern California.
The water recycling project, being developed by the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
(Metropolitan) in partnership with the Los Angeles County
Sanitation Districts (Sanitation Districts), has for years been
known as the Regional Recycled Water Program. … The
project will take cleaned wastewater and purify it to produce a
new, drought-proof source of high-quality water for Southern
California. When completed, it will produce up to 150 million
gallons of water daily, enough to serve more than 500,000 homes
– making it one of the largest water recycling facilities in
the world.
Momentum is building for a unique
interstate deal that aims to transform wastewater from Southern
California homes and business into relief for the stressed
Colorado River. The collaborative effort to add resiliency to a
river suffering from overuse, drought and climate change is being
shaped across state lines by some of the West’s largest water
agencies.
Martha Guzman recalls those awful
days working on water and other issues as a deputy legislative
secretary for then-Gov. Jerry Brown. California was mired in a
recession and the state’s finances were deep in the red. Parks
were cut, schools were cut, programs were cut to try to balance a
troubled state budget in what she remembers as “that terrible
time.”
She now finds herself in a strikingly different position: As
administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
Region 9, she has a mandate to address water challenges across
California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii and $1 billion to help pay
for it. It is the kind of funding, she said, that is usually
spread out over a decade. Guzman called it the “absolutely
greatest opportunity.”
Innovative efforts to accelerate
restoration of headwater forests and to improve a river for the
benefit of both farmers and fish. Hard-earned lessons for water
agencies from a string of devastating California wildfires.
Efforts to drought-proof a chronically water-short region of
California. And a broad debate surrounding how best to address
persistent challenges facing the Colorado River.
These were among the issues Western Water explored in
2019, and are still worth taking a look at in case you missed
them.
The southern part of California’s Central Coast from San Luis Obispo County to Ventura County, home to about 1.5 million people, is blessed with a pleasing Mediterranean climate and a picturesque terrain. Yet while its unique geography abounds in beauty, the area perpetually struggles with drought.
Indeed, while the rest of California breathed a sigh of relief with the return of wet weather after the severe drought of 2012–2016, places such as Santa Barbara still grappled with dry conditions.
Blasted by sun and beaten by waves,
plastic bottles and bags shed fibers and tiny flecks of
microplastic debris that litter the San Francisco Bay where they
can choke the marine life that inadvertently consumes it.
Summer is a good time to take a
break, relax and enjoy some of the great beaches, waterways and
watersheds around California and the West. We hope you’re getting
a chance to do plenty of that this July.
But in the weekly sprint through work, it’s easy to miss
some interesting nuggets you might want to read. So while we’re
taking a publishing break to work on other water articles planned
for later this year, we want to help you catch up on
Western Water stories from the first half of this year
that you might have missed.
Each day, people living on the streets and camping along waterways across California face the same struggle – finding clean drinking water and a place to wash and go to the bathroom.
Some find friendly businesses willing to help, or public restrooms and drinking water fountains. Yet for many homeless people, accessing the water and sanitation that most people take for granted remains a daily struggle.
Californians have been doing an
exceptional job
reducing their indoor water use, helping the state survive
the most recent drought when water districts were required to
meet conservation targets. With more droughts inevitable,
Californians are likely to face even greater calls to save water
in the future.
For the bulk of her career, Jayne
Harkins has devoted her energy to issues associated with the
management of the Colorado River, both with the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and with the Colorado River Commission of Nevada.
Now her career is taking a different direction. Harkins, 58, was
appointed by President Trump last August to take the helm of the
United States section of the U.S.-Mexico agency that oversees
myriad water matters between the two countries as they seek to
sustainably manage the supply and water quality of the Colorado
River, including its once-thriving Delta in Mexico, and other
rivers the two countries share. She is the first woman to be
named the U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and
Water Commission for either the United States or Mexico in the
commission’s 129-year history.
Although Santa Monica may be the most aggressive Southern California water provider to wean itself from imported supplies, it is hardly the only one looking to remake its water portfolio.
In Los Angeles, a city of about 4 million people, efforts are underway to dramatically slash purchases of imported water while boosting the amount from recycling, stormwater capture, groundwater cleanup and conservation. Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2014 announced a plan to reduce the city’s purchase of imported water from Metropolitan Water District by one-half by 2025 and to provide one-half of the city’s supply from local sources by 2035. (The city considers its Eastern Sierra supplies as imported water.)
Imported water from the Sierra
Nevada and the Colorado River built Southern California. Yet as
drought, climate change and environmental concerns render those
supplies increasingly at risk, the Southland’s cities have ramped
up their efforts to rely more on local sources and less on
imported water.
Far and away the most ambitious goal has been set by the city of
Santa Monica, which in 2014 embarked on a course to be virtually
water independent through local sources by 2023. In the 1990s,
Santa Monica was completely dependent on imported water. Now, it
derives more than 70 percent of its water locally.
In rural areas with widely dispersed houses, reliance upon a
centralized
sewer system is not practical compared to individual
wastewater treatment methods. These on-site management facilities
– or septic systems – are more commonplace given their simpler
structure, efficiency and easy maintenance.
Microplastics – plastic debris
measuring less than 5 millimeters – are an
increasing water quality concern. Entering the water as
industrial microbeads or as larger plastic litter that degrade
into small pellets, microplastics come from a variety of
consumer products.
Directly detecting harmful pathogens in water can be expensive,
unreliable and incredibly complicated. Fortunately, certain
organisms are known to consistently coexist with these harmful
microbes which are substantially easier to detect and culture:
coliform bacteria. These generally non-toxic organisms are
frequently used as “indicator
species,” or organisms whose presence demonstrates a
particular feature of its surrounding environment.
The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of water determines the
impact of decaying matter on species in a specific ecosystem.
Sampling for BOD tests how much oxygen is needed by bacteria to
break down the organic matter.
Point sources release pollutants from discrete conveyances, such
as a discharge pipe, and are regulated by federal and state
agencies. The main point source dischargers are factories and
sewage treatment plants, which release treated
wastewater.
This 30-minute documentary-style DVD on the history and current
state of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program includes an
overview of the geography and history of the river, historical
and current water delivery and uses, the genesis and timeline of
the 1988 lawsuit, how the settlement was reached and what was
agreed to.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
Many Californians don’t realize that when they turn on the
faucet, the water that flows out could come from a source close
to home or one hundreds of miles away. Most people take their
water for granted; not thinking about the elaborate systems and
testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state. Where drinking water comes from,
how it’s treated, and what people can do to protect its quality
are highlighted in this 2007 PBS documentary narrated by actress
Wendie Malick.
A 30-minute version of the 2007 PBS documentary Drinking Water:
Quenching the Public Thirst. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues surrounding the elaborate systems
and testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state.
As the state’s population continues to grow and traditional water
supplies grow tighter, there is increased interest in reusing
treated wastewater for a variety of activities, including
irrigation of crops, parks and golf courses, groundwater recharge
and industrial uses.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to California
Wastewater is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication
that provides background information on the history of wastewater
treatment and how wastewater is collected, conveyed, treated and
disposed of today. The guide also offers case studies of
different treatment plants and their treatment processes.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing
uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta,
its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues
with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural
drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.
Wastewater management in California centers on the collection,
conveyance,
treatment, reuse and disposal of wastewater. This process is
conducted largely by public agencies, though there are also
private systems in places where a publicly owned treatment plant
is not feasible.
In California, wastewater treatment takes place through 100,000
miles of sanitary sewer lines and at more than 900 wastewater
treatment plants that manage the roughly 4 billion gallons of
wastewater generated in the state each day.
