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As Seen In Processing Magazine

California wastewater plant unable to meet food processors’ demand

Despite having a state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly wastewater treatment plant operating 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 took some $120 million to build, is unable to process certain types of sludgy waste coming 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, as it cannot provide them with 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 that the wastewater treatment plant might need to be upgraded to meet the needs of manufacturers. Several successful companies have been asking if their high-density wastewater can be treated at the Ellis Creek plant, which is currently impossible. However, if Petaluma’s neighboring facilities can process such substances, there could be a way that Petaluma does it too, he told the Petaluma Argus-Courier.

The Ellis Creek plant took 20 years of discussions and plans and four years of construction work. Since its launch in 2009, the facility has been serving its purpose well by recycling wastewater and allowing its use as irrigation for landscaping, parks, and playing fields, thus reducing the city’s drinking water usage. 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 predicted at the time 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 took part in the discussions for the plant’s original design, breweries like his own were too small at that time and were not considered of major importance.

Dan St. John noted that the plant might have the capacity to handle some of the local food industry’s wastewater, but tests must be carried out before taking that step. If tests show this is possible, possible upgrades or modifications will be discussed.