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
Despite advances in wastewater treatment, tiny plastic
particles called microplastics are still slipping through,
posing potential health and environmental hazards, according to
new research from The University of Texas at Arlington. …
(W)hen a plastic item reaches the end of its useful life, it
never truly disappears. Instead, it breaks down into smaller
and smaller pieces called microplastics—particles five
millimeters or less, about the width of a pencil eraser—that
end up in our soil and water. “What our systematic literature
review found is that while most wastewater treatment facilities
significantly reduce microplastics loads, complete removal
remains unattainable with current technologies,” said Un-Jung
Kim, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at
UT Arlington and senior author of the study published in
Science of the Total Environment.
In Sacramento, even an inch of rain can lead to a much more
complicated problem underground. The city is one of only two in
California and four on the West Coast still operating a
combined sewer system—a century-old design where stormwater and
sewage flow through the same pipes. As climate challenges
intensify, modernizing and maintaining the system is a 24/7
job. The history of Sacramento’s combined sewer system (CSS)
stretches across 7,500 acres in neighborhoods like downtown,
east Sacramento, Oak Park and Land Park. The system serves
300,000 residents, at least ten times the population when it
was built. “These systems were never meant to keep up with the
type of rainfall we’re seeing today,” said Carlos Eliason, a
spokesperson for the city’s sewage operations.
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday
that Mexico must stop the flow of billions of gallons of sewage
and toxic chemicals from Tijuana that has polluted the Pacific
Ocean off neighboring Southern California, closing beaches and
sickening Navy SEALs who train in the water. Lee Zeldin made
the demand during an Earth Day trip to the California-Mexico
border, where he toured a plant in San Diego County that treats
the sewage as a secondary facility and flew along the frontier
to see the Tijuana River. He also was scheduled to meet with
SEALs. Zeldin said that in the next day or so, his agency will
present Mexico a to-do list of projects to resolve the
decades-long environmental crisis, but he stopped short of
specifying how the Trump administration would hold Mexico
accountable if it does not act.
Nearly a thousand Imperial Beach residents are joining a
lawsuit against the operators of the South Bay International
Wastewater Treatment Plant, including Veolia Water, over the
ongoing sewage crisis that has plagued the community for
decades. Residents report health problems, devalued homes and
diminished quality of life due to billions of gallons of sewage
flowing from the Tijuana River into their community.
… The lawsuit, filed by Frantz Law Group in November, is
one of five similar legal actions initiated in the past year.
It accuses Veolia Water of negligence and conscious disregard
for community safety by exposing South Bay residents to raw
sewage and contamination.
Wastewater industry professionals are split when it comes to
President Donald Trump’s performance in office so far. In a
poll conducted by Wastewater Digest following President Trump’s
first few months in office, roughly 50% of respondents felt
“very negative” or “somewhat negative” about his performance so
far as it relates to the wastewater sector. Roughly 44% felt
“very positive” or “somewhat positive,” and around 6% were
“neutral” on the topic. Responses about President Trump’s
performance varied, with some people praising his first few
months in office, while others were concerned about the future
of the country. Hot topics included comments about the economy,
regulations, tariffs and the environment.
3D printing has opened up new possibilities across multiple
fields, from food production to housing. Now, its use in
designing the next generation of sustainable technologies could
be a game-changer. Microbial electrochemical systems have
broad applications for green tech, including wastewater
treatment, energy generation, and chemical synthesis, as a
report by SciTechDaily explained. These devices leverage
microorganisms to transfer electrons, and MES can both degrade
pollutants and generate electricity, making them a
future-forward tool for sustainable design. Among the
advantages of using 3D printing for MES is the ability to
rapidly prototype and customize reactor designs, as the report
detailed. This gives researchers the flexibility to optimize
fluid dynamics and mass transfer within the reactors, helping
improve performance.
The Port of Los Angeles must significantly improve its
management of stormwater and groundwater to ensure that toxic
pollutants stay out of the harbor, according to Wednesday’s
tentative settlement of a lawsuit against the city of Los
Angeles for alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act.
The lawsuit brought by Los Angeles-based Environment California
in July 2024 alleged that there have been more than 2,000
illegal discharges of pollution in the previous five years at
the port. That pollution stems from bacteria-laden stormwater
and contaminated groundwater that accumulates in a 53-acre area
of the port and is discharged into the harbor, the suit
alleges.
The Leucadia Wastewater District (LWD) has visited two
Encinitas Union School District campuses this year to provide
an engaging lesson on water conservation and how they play a
vital role in protecting our oceans. Students at La Costa
Heights and Capri got a behind-the-scenes look at how water is
managed after it leaves their homes and LWD field service
technicians showed off their line-cleaning truck and
demonstrated how a closed-circuit TV robot inspects sewer lines
across northern Encinitas and southern Carlsbad. La Costa
Heights teacher Jessica Caldararo and Capri teacher Nancy Jois
applied for grants from LWD for their educational initiatives,
using the funds for these demonstrations as part of their water
conservation units.
A gorgeous California city has been plagued with a foul
odor due to a stomach-churning problem in the Tijuana
River. The stink started after Mexico announced
it was forced to dump around five million gallons a day of
sewage into the river. Mexico is attempting to replace a
section of an ageing sewage pipeline with a newer one made of
concrete. … The US side of the (International Boundary
and Water Commission) said Mexico had informed them that the
decision to dump five million gallons of wastewater a day into
the river was a ‘difficult decision,’ but there were no other
alternatives to fixing the sewage problem. On Thursday,
the IBWC said that even though the sewage dump was ‘bad news,’
the decision was the best way to prevent wastewater from
polluting the Tijuana River long-term. The construction
project is on the Mexico side of the river and will be split
into two phases, scheduled to be completed by April 17.
Officials are monitoring reports from the San Diego County Air
Pollution Control District of an overnight uptick in hydrogen
sulfide readings in the Tijuana River Valley, creating odor
issues in South County. The increase in odors in the last 24
hours “appears to be associated with reports from the
(International Boundary and Water Commission) that sewage
infrastructure work in Mexico has resulted in the release of up
to 5 million gallons per night of sewage into the Tijuana River
Valley,” according to the county. This flow comes in addition
to “rogue sewage flows” being investigated by the IBWC with its
partners in Mexico. The IBWC operates the South Bay
International Wastewater Treatment Plant and is tasked with
collaborating with Mexico on border water issues.
San Diego officials say Mexico is continuing to release
millions of gallons per day of raw sewage into the city’s
waters despite its promises to end the flow that has sickened
Navy SEALs and San Diego residents. “Mexico just dumped 6
million gallons of sewage into the Tijuana River — after
promising they wouldn’t,” said San Diego County Supervisor Jim
Desmond on X today (Apr. 11). “We are at the mercy of a foreign
government that continues to pollute our waters — while we get
stuck with the consequences.” Desmond also said Navy SEAL
training is often being shifted farther north in San Diego from
Coronado, where the training typically takes place, due to the
high volume of waterborne illness caused by fecal and bacterial
contamination.
Mexico is diverting untreated wastewater into the Tijuana River
as it works to repair its faulty sewage infrastructure. About
five million gallons per day (MGD) have been diverted since
April 8 as Mexico repairs a critical junction box that is a
part of its International Collector project. The junction box
must be dried so it can be rebuilt with reinforced concrete. On
Wednesday, Mexico shut off the water supply to a portion of
Tijuana for other projects, which eliminated the need to divert
wastewater into the Tijuana River. Because of that, the average
daily impact has been three million gallons per day, according
to Maria-Elena Giner, commissioner for the U.S. section of the
International Boundary and Water Commission. To help remove as
much wastewater as possible from the river, Mexico is working
to activate its PBCILA lift station, which is usually turned
off during the dry season. It is expected to be operational by
Sunday.
A coalition of top scientists loaded its last set of wastewater
samples for analysis Sunday after receiving the final word from
San Diego County late last week that the work should cease due
to a nationwide clawback of federal public health funds. Since
February 2021, the San Diego Epidemiology and Research for
COVID Health program (SEARCH), a collaboration of UC San Diego,
Scripps Research Institute and the genomics program at Rady
Children’s Hospital, have used advanced science to analyze
wastewater samples collected from three different treatment
plants in San Diego County. Samples have been used to estimate
both the amount and type of viruses shed by the region’s 3.3
million residents. … But those efforts ground to a halt
Monday after researchers received word that the roughly
$400,000 per year provided by the county’s public health
department would cease.
A smoldering chemical reaction brewing deep inside the recently
closed Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic now threatens to
consume an entire 160-acre canyon of buried waste, endangering
a storage area for hazardous liquid waste, according to state
officials. … State regulators worry that damage to the
tank farm would cause chemical-laden leachate to spill onto the
landfill’s surface and potentially into nearby sources of
water. State agencies have ordered Waste Connections to
relocate the tank farm to prevent hazardous chemicals from
seeping into groundwater or spilling into
storm drains that feed into the Santa Clara River.
A flash fire at the San Jose-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater
Facility prompted an emergency response on Tuesday, but no
serious injuries were reported, authorities said. The fire was
reported at 10:20 a.m. at the treatment plant on Los Esoteros
Road north of Highway 237, according to statement from the San
Jose’s Environmental Services Department. Two workers were
in an enclosed area at the facility and working with
unspecified chemicals when an aerosol ignited, resulting in a
small fire, the department said. The workers’ protective
gear spared them from being injured, the department
said. The San Jose Fire Department was summoned to the
site, and the two affected workers were given an “all clear”
later in the morning.
A clearer path forward could be emerging in the tiny Tulare
County community of East Orosi, which has long struggled with
contaminated drinking water, a decrepit sewer system and
dysfunction among elected leaders. The state Water Resources
Control Board will be in town Thursday, April 17 to explain why
it proposes that the community’s sewer system be run by a new
administrator, the Tulare County Resource Management Agency
(RMA). … The proposed sewer administration change is a result
of Assembly Bill 805, authored by Dr. Joaquin Arambula
(D-Fresno) and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in
September in the backyard of an East Orosi resident. The
bill authorizes the state Water Board to intervene when a sewer
service provider does not meet regulatory standards or fails to
maintain the technical, managerial and financial capacity
needed to prevent waste, fraud and abuse. The Water Board can
then contract with a new administrator.
The Trump administration plans to increase “regulatory
flexibility” for oil and gas companies trying to find ways to
dispose of copious amounts of toxic wastewater. … Fracking
generates massive quantities of this toxic wastewater that
companies are struggling to manage. … Under the Environmental
Protection Agency’s current rule, discharges of produced water
are more restricted in the Eastern United States than in the
arid West. The agency announced last week that it will revise
that regulation to “help unleash American energy.” Among
the items it’s considering: expanding the geographic range
where treated oilfield wastewater can be discharged into rivers
and streams. The EPA also said it will review new
opportunities for using treated wastewater for industrial and
agricultural applications, including for artificial
intelligence and data center cooling, and to irrigate
rangeland.
Residents have until 5 p.m. April 11 to submit comments on the
proposed renewal of the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System at the Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant,
6040 Vaca Station Road. Treated wastewater is discharged to Old
Alamo Creek, a tributary of New Alamo Creek, Ulatis Creek,
Cache Creek Slough and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. …
The tentative order includes updated effluent limitations for
ammonia nitrogen, nitrate plus nitrite, dichlorobromomethane,
dibromochloromethane, and cyanide. It removes effluent
limitations for acute whole effluent toxicity and electrical
conductivity.
National parks are struggling with an $877 million backlog of
plumbing problems at restrooms and wastewater facilities with a
shortfall of workers needed to make repairs, according to an
audit released last week by the Interior Department’s inspector
general. Moreover, the park system — which hosted 332 million
visits last year at more than 400 sites — also lacks a system
to track critical wastewater hazards identified by NPS’ Office
of Public Health, the report said. The Office of Inspector
General surveyed 30 public health assessments for parks and
found 87 critical-level deficiencies such as permit violations
for sewage discharges, wastewater spills and other
problems.
Cities across California and the Southwest are significantly
increasing and diversifying their use of recycled wastewater as
traditional water supplies grow tighter.
The 5th edition of our Layperson’s Guide to Water Recycling
covers the latest trends and statistics on water reuse as a
strategic defense against prolonged drought and climate change.
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. They enter waterways and
oceans as industrial microbeads from various consumer
products or larger plastic litter that degrades into small bits.
Microbeads have been used in exfoliating agents, cosmetic washes
and large-scale cleaning processes. Microplastics are used
pharmaceutically for efficient drug delivery to affected sites in
patients’ bodies and by textile companies to create artificial
fibers.
Microplastics disperse easily and widely throughout surface waters and sediments. UV
light, microbes and erosion degrade the tiny fragments, making
them even smaller and more difficult for wastewater treatment
plants to remove.
The particles, usually made of polyethylene or polypropylene
plastic, take thousands of years to biodegrade
naturally. It takes prohibitively high temperatures to
break microplastics down fully. Consequently, most water treatment plants cannot remove
them.
The health effects of consumption are currently under
investigation.
Responses
Many advocacy groups have published lists of products containing
microbeads to curb their purchase and pollution.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates microbeads in
industrial, but not domestic, wastewater.
Federal
law required microbeads to be phased out of rinse-off
cosmetics beginning in July 2017. Dozens of states also
regulate microbeads in products. California has the strictest
limitation, prohibiting even the use of biodegradable microbeads.
Microplastics in California Water
In 2019, the San Francisco Estuary Institute published a
study estimating that 7 trillion pieces of microplastic
enter San Francisco
Bay annually from stormwater runoff, about 300
times the amount in all wastewater treatment effluent entering
the bay.
California lawmakers in 2018 passed a package of bills to raise
awareness of the risks of microplastics and microfibers in the
marine environment and drinking water. As
directed by the legislation, the State Water Resources Control
Board in 2020 adopted an official
definition of microplastics in drinking water and in 2022
developed the world’s standardized methods for testing drinking
water for microplastics.
The water board was expected by late 2023 to begin testing
for microplastics in untreated drinking water sources tapped by
30 of the state’s largest water utilities. After two years, the
testing was expected to extend to treated tap water served
to consumers. A progress report and recommendations for
policy changes or additional research are required by the end of
2025.
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.
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.
