Water Recycling Sewerage

Construction on pipelines set to start

Preparation work has begun in the Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District for two pipeline construction projects - replacement of a 5,700 foot section of the district's main sewer trunk and the installation of a recycled water pipeline for the North Bay Water Reuse Authority's North Bay Water Recycling Program.

The district's sewer replacement project is a component of its capital improvement plan to replace aging and structurally deficient pipes that collect wastewater and deliver it to the district's treatment plant.

The replacement project is taking place between Watmaugh Road, east of Shainsky Road, and the district's wastewater treatment plant located at 22675 Eighth St. E. The 50-year-old existing sewer, constructed of reinforced concrete pipe, will be replaced with new PVC pipe material ranging in size from 30 inches to 42 inches in diameter. Construction activities will include open-cut trenching and trenchless construction methods under a portion of Schell Creek.

Construction activities will take place on 16 private properties. Construction is slated to be completed by Nov. 1. The total cost of the replacement project is approximately $1.8 million and was included in the district's fiscal year 2010-11 Capital Replacement Budget.

"The Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District's sewage collection system is aging with a majority of its pipelines reaching 50 years or older. Sewage pipeline replacement projects are essential to ensure public health and protect the environment," said district and water agency Director Valerie Brown.

The installation of a recycled water main pipe for the authority will parallel the district's main sewer trunk replacement project. The two pipes are being installed at the same time to save money for both the district and authority. Construction for both pipeline projects will be performed under contract with Sierra Mountain Construction, Inc., a San Francisco pipeline construction firm, for the contract amount of $2,337,197. The project is being funded in part with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds administered by the Bureau of Reclamation. In May 2010, the authority was awarded $7.3 million by the ARRA toward the construction of projects that will expand recycled water use in the region.

"The ARRA funds will not only help build the authority's recycled water system, but create jobs in our community," said Brown. "Recycled water will help to ensure that there is a reliable, environmentally beneficial water supply to support the needs of our communities and economies.

Sewage Water Pollution and Its Environmental Effects | Agriculture ...

India faces a turbulent water future. Unless water management practices are changed – and changed soon – India will face a severe water crisis within the next two decades and will have neither the cash to build new infrastructure nor the water needed by its growing economy and rising population. Water is one of the critical inputs for the sustenance of mankind. It is used both terrestrial and aquatic environment for various activities, balancing the ecological system of global environment. Water is the important natural source, which is abundant in nature and cover about 2/3ds of earth surface. However, only 1% of the water resource is available as fresh water (i.e., surface water-rivers, lakes, reams, and ground water) for human consumption and other activities. The major uses of water are for irrigation (30%), thermal power plants (50%), while other uses are domestic (7%) and industrial consumption (~12%) (A. K. De, 2002).The United Nation’s report on “Water for People, Water for Life” (the first ever UN system wide evaluation on global water resources-2003) has put India a poor 120th for water quality among 122 nations covered. Only Belgium and Morocco are ranked worse than India. The quality indicator value was based on quality and quantity of fresh water (especially ground water), waste water treatment facilities, legalities like application of pollution regulations, India’s quality indicator value stood at -3.1 while for based ranked country Finland it was 1.85. The UN evaluation also ranked India 133 in a list of 180 countries for its poor water availability (1880m3 per person per year). Kuwait was ranked the poorest on water availability. Against the National average target of 135 lpcd of water and 180 lpcd per capita in large cities, the per capita availability is low and ranges from 165 lpcd in a few larger town to about 50 lpcd in most smaller towns. The availability of water in urban slums is about 27 lpcd. Urbanisation has given rise to a number of environmental problems such as water supply, wastewater generation and its collection, treatment and disposal in urban areas. In most cases wastewater is let out untreated and it either percolates into the ground and in turn contaminates the groundwater or is discharged into the natural drainage system causing pollution in downstream areas. Sewage and not the industrial pollution accounts for more than 75 per cent of the surface water contamination in India. Due to negligence, groundwater is also increasingly getting contaminated. In India less than 50% of the urban population has access to sewage disposal system. Most of the existing collecting systems discharge directly to the receiving water without treatment. Garbage, domestic and otherwise, is directly dumped into water bodies or roadside, which can often be washed into streams and lakes. The municipalities disposes off their treated or partly treated or untreated wastewater into natural drains joining rivers or lakes or used on land for irrigation or fodder cultivation or into sea or combination of these. Toxic chemicals from sewage water transfer to plants and entire in the food chain and affect public health. Pathogens occurring in the sewage water directly affect the mammals causing severe diseases. About 60 per cent of urban deaths in India are due to lack of safe drinking water facilities. Further deaths due to water borne diseases are second only to malnutrition. It is estimated that around 80% of water consumed by a household is let of to the drains of sewers as wastewater. There is substantial scope for segregated use of the water for further use for gardening, industrial cooling, street cleaning, vehicular washing, fire fighting, irrigation, yard cleaning, fountains, recreational lakes, etc. Though methods are available to improve the quality of recycled water to potable grade, the lack of social acceptance and prohibitive costs may prevent the adoption of these techniques. The importance of reuse and recycling of treated sewage and industrial effluents has been realized on account of two distinct advantages: reduction of pollution in the receiving water bodies and reduction in the requirement of fresh water for various uses. Reuse of municipal wastewater after necessary treatment to meet industrial water requirement is being practiced in India.

Chemical water and wastewater treatment VII, proceedings of the 10th Gothenburg Symposium 2002, June 17-19, 2002, Gothenburg, Sweden

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