Sacramento Must Upgrade Sewage Plant

California’s Water Resources Control Board has upheld a regional water board’s direction that Sacramento must clean up treated wastewater it discharges into the Sacramento River.

The Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District was ordered December 4 to comply with requirements to treat wastewater discharged into the river for pathogens detrimental to human health and pollutants. Those were found to be harming aquatic life as far as 30 miles downstream.

The decision essentially upholds a Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board permit issued two years ago for the 30-year-old wastewater treatment plant at Freeport, just south of the capital city.

The district was told it must upgrade its sewage treatment plant to provide not only advanced tertiary treatment for advanced removal of pollutants, but also to treat for ammonia and nitrates. The latter two nutrients are nutrients that in large quantities are harmful to aquatic life.