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California wastewater plant unable to meet food processors’ demand
Despite operating a state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly wastewater treatment plant for just three years, Petaluma City, Calif., cannot meet the increasing demand for wastewater treatment from the city’s booming food processing industry.
The plant, Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility, which cost about $120 million to build, is unable to process certain types of sludgy waste from dairies and breweries in the area. This means that they are forced to transport their high-density wastewater to either the East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland or the Napa Sanitation District, adding significant costs to businesses, public works director Dan St. John said.
Even more importantly, the city cannot attract new food processing businesses because it cannot offer the best operating conditions. Anthy O’Brien of the Petaluma Chamber of Commerce’s economic development committee claimed that Petaluma is trying to become a preferred location for food processing businesses. However, this means the wastewater treatment plant may need to be upgraded to meet manufacturers’ needs. Several successful companies have asked whether their high-density wastewater can be treated at the Ellis Creek plant, which is currently not possible. However, if Petaluma’s neighboring facilities can process such substances, there may be a way for Petaluma to do so too, he told the Petaluma Argus-Courier.
The Ellis Creek plant took 20 years of discussions and planning and 4 years of construction. Since its launch in 2009, the facility has served its purpose well by recycling wastewater for irrigation of landscaping, parks, and playing fields, thereby reducing the city’s drinking water use. Still, there are people in the city who claim that failing to provide such an option in the plant’s plans was a big mistake, as it excludes a large proportion of businesses from its service.
According to Gary Imm, former CEO of Clover Stornetta Farms, one of the companies that truck its wastewater to another facility, when the local community was given feedback on the plant’s plans, he was left under the impression that high-density waste processing would be included. He claimed there were lengthy discussions with dischargers of high-density waste over the charge they would have to pay for dumping their waste with the city. Still, somehow, this was not included in the plans.
However, it is possible that the growth of the food processing sector was not anticipated when plans for the Ellis Creek facility were being drawn up. Leon Sharvon, CFO of Lagunitas Brewing Company, told the Petaluma Argus-Courier that while well-established businesses participated in discussions on the plant’s original design, breweries like his were too small at the time and not considered of major importance.
Dan St. John noted that the plant may be able to handle some of the local food industry’s wastewater, but tests must be conducted before taking that step. If tests show this is possible, possible upgrades or modifications will be discussed.
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