A malfunction at a wastewater pumping station spilled 500,000 gallons of raw sewage into San Diego Bay, authorities said.
More than six miles of shoreline were closed or posted with warning signs after the spill Monday afternoon sent untreated wastewater flowing out of manholes and into storm drains downtown and in the Midway area instead of going to a treatment plant, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday.
Hungarian writer and poet Sándor Márai published a description of the San Diego-Tijuana region in 1964. His chronicle provides details of the conditions that surround the U.S.-Mexico border. He compares the streets of California packed with automobiles and Tijuana’s dusty, cluttered, noisy avenues. The Tijuana pedestrians were everywhere and the difference caught his attention because seeing a person walking in California was “suspicious.” That’s how the poet makes an urban cross-border description, according to a fragment translated into Spanish by Rafael Muñoz.
One of the largest public works projects in Sacramento’s history has been quietly under construction, out of sight for most people in the region.
Sacramento RegionalSan is upgrading its wastewater processing facility in Elk Grove, which processes wastewater from customers across Sacramento County, and West Sacramento in Yolo County. On an average day, 150 million gallons of wastewater is handled at the facility.
It’s easy to take for granted. You turn a knob, and there’s water. But, the drought has shown we need to think more about our water supply.
Some agencies which serve part of the Conejo Valley are on the cutting edge of water recycling. The idea is simple: turn wastewater into drinking water.
They have a demonstration facility on Las Virgenes Road where you can actually see the recycling in action.
To state the obvious: California has a water problem. That’s why more than 6 million Southern Californians can water outside only once or twice a week as of June 1.
But experts say conservation alone can’t solve our water woes. So what does water security look like in a drier future? This story focuses on one piece of the puzzle: recycling wastewater. Let’s dig in.
Construction has started on a $950 million water purification plant in Santee that will provide enough drinking water to serve an estimated 500,000 people and businesses in East County.
The East County Advanced Water Purification Program will daily produce up to 11.5 million gallons of potable water which amounts to about 30% of the drinking water used by East County residents and businesses.
People wearing business suits and hard hats broke ground Wednesday in Santee for the East County Advanced Water Purification Plant.
It’s part of a plan of four East County water agencies to take wastewater, that’s now treated and dumped in the ocean, and turn it into water that’s clean enough to drink.
The water recycling plant is expected to provide 11.5 million gallons a day of purified wastewater for East County ratepayers.
San Diego County officials Wednesday will introduce a new water-testing technology they will begin using the very next day to provide same-day public warnings of poor coastal water quality that causes illness.
San Diego leaders say the results will be more accurate and posted within hours instead of the next day, reducing the time the public could be at risk if water is contaminated.
COVID-19 wastewater data now shows that the record spread of the virus in San Diego is beginning to fall.
“We’re coming off the surge for sure,” said UC San Diego Professor Rob Knight. “However, it’s possible that cases will continue to rise or maybe peak around now.”
Knight leads the project that has been analyzing San Diegans sewage from the Point Loma treatment plan over the last two years. He said wastewater is a leading indicator of the virus’ spread, with data typically three weeks ahead of confirmed cases.
This past summer, as California faced a historic drought, reservoirs used by the small city of Healdsburg dropped to record lows.
“It puts us in a situation where we just simply don’t have enough water to go about our normal daily practices,” says Terry Crowley, the city’s utility director.
He says to conserve water, Healdsburg needed to slash consumption by 40%. City officials limited household use and banned watering ornamental lawns.
