Carlsbad

The Carlsbad City Council has called for the Encina sewage-treatment plant, which dumps 17 million gallons of effluent into the ocean daily, to upgrade its treatment standards.

But the council’s unanimous decision Tuesday will not prompt any immediate changes at the plant because Carlsbad is only one of six governmental entities that operate the plant.

Encina officials say a final decision on upgrading sewage treatment is a budgetary matter and therefore requires the approval of each agency. In addition to Carlsbad, the plant is operated by the City of Vista, the Encinitas and Buena sanitation districts, and the Leucadia and San Marcos county water districts.

Carlsbad officials are now expected to push the other agencies to approve the change from advanced primary treatment to secondary treatment, an upgrade that would raise rates about $6 a year for each household.

Advanced primary is a process that allows waste to settle, while secondary treatment involves the use of biological organisms that more effectively cleanse the sewage.

Although plant officials say ocean monitoring indicates that the treated sewage being pumped more than a mile off Carlsbad has not caused a pollution problem, critics say a potential danger exists because of viruses that can go undetected.