It has taken a four-year drought in California to change that. A seven-year-old treatment plant in Orange County that recycles wastewater to recharge drinking water aquifers – and generates most of its own energy – is attracting international attention for its design and effectiveness. City authorities in Modesto and Turlock are working with the Del Puerto Water District in Patterson to recycle wastewater from two municipal treatment plants to supply almond, fruit, and vegetable growers with 30,000 acre-feet of irrigation water annually, equal to a third of the water district's annual demand.
Here in Oakland, the 64-year-old regional wastewater treatment plant has elevated an essential urban service to a new level of innovation and civic importance. The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) treatment plant, a formidable assembly of mixing tanks, pumps, and pipes on the city's north side, has 11 megawatts of biogas-fueled electrical generating capacity, more than the plant's power demand. The excess power is sold to the Port of Oakland, and EBMUD saves about $3 million in electric expenses a year.
Daniel Hamilton, Oakland's sustainability program manager, said in an interview that the 2020 goal is likely to be met. One reason is that the treatment plant is upgrading its capacity to digest food waste and is aggressively marketing its waste-to-energy recycling program to food waste producers, including farms hundreds of miles away.
The EBMUD plant treats an average of 60 million gallons of wastewater daily from 650,000 people and businesses in Oakland and eight surrounding cities. The drought and water use reduction programs have reduced flows to the plant.
Sources: Oakland Food Policy Council, Treatment Plant Operator.
Photo Credit: Keith Schneider/Circle of Blue.