Sanitation District Should Clean Up Effluent

Re “Critics: Ban Waiver for O.C. Sewage,” May 28:

Orange County Sanitation District board member Brian Donahue questions “the wisdom of adopting a multimillion-dollar treatment process.” Here’s an economic and water-resource reason: The Sanitation District is “disposing” of a valuable commodity each day. Over 600 acre-feet of valuable water goes out the ocean outfall each day as the major part of the effluent. The cost to buy this amount of water from the Metropolitan Water District, at $450 an acre-foot, is $270,000. That’s $270,000 a day. The ground water level in the Orange County aquifer is dangerously low, and continues to fall, so it is not only a matter of the monetary loss but the actual quality and availability of water for the county. The current move by the county water district to reclaim some of this water is commendable. This plan should be expanded to reclaim all of this valuable water. The cost of reclaimed water is competitive, $420 per acre-foot.

Full secondary treatment of the county’s effluent would be a good first step toward full water reclamation. By instituting full secondary treatment now, the district would be taking a positive step toward a greater goal of full reclamation of valuable water along with cleaning up the outfall effluent.

Leadership is marked by looking toward the future, planning and being proactive. Proactive doesn’t mean “status quo” until disaster strikes in the form of beach closures or drought and possible saltwater contamination of the aquifer. James Ferryman of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District wants to “do something very proactive” if the plume is proved to be causing the beach closures. Being forced to do something by federal law is not proactive, but reactive. How about proactive, as in reduce the potential for disaster by forming a long-term plan to eliminate the effluent discharge into the ocean and reclaim the 600 acre-feet of water being thrown away each day?

Dennis Baker

Corona del Mar

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The Orange County Sanitation District pumps millions of gallons of waste water a day from showers, dishwashers, toilets and sinks into the outfall pipe, which empties four miles out in the ocean. The district is one of 36 agencies out of 16,000 that have the waiver and the largest in the nation having the waiver. The district services 2.2 million people. If the study by Stanley Grant from UC Irvine is proved correct by the testing this summer, the district will be forced to go to full secondary treatment and not ask for the waiver.

The OCSD’s argument against going to full secondary treatment of the effluent begs the question. It’s their responsibility. There are many options for disposing of the bio-solids. They should find the one best suited to them and stop polluting the ocean.

Stop the waiver and clean up the effluent now, not later, OCSD. You’ve got the money; please clean up the effluent.

Eileen Murphy

Huntington Beach