It might take five years to find a market for Hollister’s
recycled wastewater, according to a representative of the
three-agency board charged with developing a master plan to deal
with Hollister’s sewage and water.
Hollister – It might take five years to find a market for Hollister’s recycled wastewater, according to a representative of the three-agency board charged with developing a master plan to deal with Hollister’s sewage and water.
Developing disposal options, including a market for treated wastewater, has long been the biggest obstacle for getting the new sewer treatment plant up and running – and getting the state-imposed sewer moratorium canceled. This is the first time an official identified with the project has publicly put a time frame on the recycling effort.
Aside from building facilities to remove the minerals from Hollister’s treated wastewater so it does not harm plants, potential users of the water need to be educated so they understand that it is safe, according to Harry Blohm, project manager for Governance Committee for the Hollister Urban Area Water and Wastewater Master Plan.
The Governance Committee was created last year and includes representatives from Hollister, San Benito County and the county water district.
“Nobody’s going to be wildly excited about using recycled water if their not educated,” Blohm said Tuesday during a Board of Supervisors meeting. “We need to find a market for recycled water,” he said, adding that the market will likely be farmers and golf courses.
Blohm said it might take between two and five years to find a market for the recycled water.
Using treated wastewater for agriculture is the ultimate solution for the problem of how to dispose of Hollister’s treated wastewater, as the city moves forward plans to build a new sewage treatment plant and lift the state-imposed sewer moratorium that has been in place since 2002 when 15 million gallons of treated sewage spilled into the San Benito River.
Baring any hang-up during environmental reviews of the project, the city will have a new sewage treatment plant by the end of 2007, according to City Manager Clint Quilter. In 2002, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board gave the city until Oct. 15 of this year to build a new plant – a date that many city officials thought was unrealistic. Despite its efforts, the city missed the deadline.
Last month, the RWQCB gave the city revised deadlines for building plant. They include drafting a long-term wastewater plan by the end of the year; awarding a contract for construction of a new treatment plant by late 2006; and drafting a disposal plan for treated wastewater by March, 2007. Each deadline missed will result in more than $66,000 in fines being levied against the city, according to Quilter.
The Governance Committee recently hired a civil engineering firm that specializes in water to insure that these deadlines are met. Part of the firm’s duties will be to come up with disposal options and a marketing plan.
During Tuesday’s meeting Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz said that he was concerned that the expense of removing minerals from the treated wastewater and transporting it to customers would make the water cost too much.
In order to keep the water reasonably priced, Blohm said, it would be subsidized by the city of Hollister. The degree to which it will be subsidized has yet to be determined, he said. Blohm seemed to think that the bigger challenge would be getting people to use recycled wastewater.
“The issue is not just cost,” He said. “But the stigma attached that it is recycled wastewater.”
Blohm said one option for making recycled wastewater less unattractive is to blend it with other water sources.
Also during Tuesday’s meeting, Blohm said that the Governance Committee will be holding several public workshops in an attempt to get public involvement and input on the project. The first workshop will be held on Nov. 16 at 4:30 in the San Benito County Water District board room. The topic of that workshop will be “levels of service.”
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
