Take A Tour Of The La Contenta Wastewater Treatment Plant – And, Believe It Or Not, It’s Not “Yucky”
VALLEY SPRINGS – (Thurs. 8/4/11) Yesterday, at the invitation of the Calaveras County Waster District, members of the local press including TLSN toured the La Contenta Wastewater Treatment Plant. It is located not far from New Hogan Lake and La Contenta Golf Club.
The purpose of the plant is to treat sewage from nearby homes and clean it so it can be used as recycled water for maintaining the greens at La Contenta Golf Course. The cost to La Contenta for using this water is zero – yes, it does not cost La Contenta anything and it helps to save some raw drinking water from New Hogan from being used to water the course’s greens.
According to CCWD, La Contenta uses approximately 350,000 gallons a day to maintain its golf course, with a large percentage of that amount coming from recycled water.
So, please join TLSN as it simulates the tour, albeit modified, that CCWD gave the press yesterday.
Welcome to the La Contenta Wastewater Treatment Plant. This is the plant’s office and lab.
Meet Benjamin Stopper. Ben is CCWD’s wastewater treatment plant operator. From this computer screen he monitors and controls many of the plant’s functions.
One of Ben’s duties is to measure conductivity, acidity and alkalinity to ensure microorganisms are being effectively utilized in the plant’s treatment process.
Adjacent to the plant’s office and lab is what we call the “Head Works.” This is where the sewage arrives from La Contenta and other nearby homes.
From the “Head Works” the sewage goes to the Aeration Basin/Clarifier. This is a settling area for solids. It is part of the solid/liquid separation process.
This is a partial view of the plant looking down from the office, lab and Aeration Basin.
The next step in the process is the Sand Filters, which filters smaller particles and suspended solids in the water.
From the Sand Filters, the next area in the process is the Ultra Violet Light Disnfection station, which cost CCWD several million dollars to install. This station deals with the elimination of such things as E-coli and other coliforms.
As you can see, after going through this process the water is clear and does not smell. So, the end result is not “yucky” like you may have thought.
From the Ultra Violent Light Disinfection Station, the recycled water goes to the “Final Effluent Pond.” It’s from here the recycled water is fed to the La Contenta golf course. What appear to be algae are not – it’s duckweed that are brought into the pond by ducks.
Oh, what about those things that look like water cannons back behind the Ultra Violent Light station? Those are called “Turbo Misters.” They are high intensity evaporators – shooting out 100 gallons of water per minute apiece into what we call the return pond. The Turbo Misters along with the return pond are used when the system breaks down or for temporarily holding water from the “Final Effluent Pond” when its levels appear to be getting too high. If the pond gets too high, its recycled water might spill over into Cosgrove Creek, which we try to prevent from happening.
Thank you for taking the tour.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Several legal issues are currently taking place between La Contenta Golf Club and CCWD. For some background on these issues, please read TLSN’s current news story entitled, “La Contenta Responds By Deadline To Avoid Fines.”
Related posts:
- Regional Water Board Threatens La Contenta Investors With Fines, Gives July 29 Compliance Deadline
- La Contenta Responds By Deadline To Avoid Fines
- Court Hears Arguments Before Ruling On La Contenta’s Request For Preliminary Injunctive Relief Against CCWD
- Court Rules In Favor Of CCWD In La Contenta Case
- Six Candidates Vie For CCWD Division 1 Board Appointment
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