Reducing Nutrients to San Francisco Bay through Additional Wastewater Sidestream Treatment Project
A growing body of evidence suggests that the historic resilience of San Francisco Bay to nutrient enrichment could be weakening, and is generating increased interest from regulators and the regulated community to develop strategies to reduce nutrient loads. This regional project will evaluate new best-available treatment technologies for nitrogen-rich wastewater treatment plant “sidestreams” at a variety of different wastewater treatment plants around the Bay Area to quantify the potential nutrient load reductions to SF Bay.
Project Facts
Recipient: East Bay Municipal Utility District
Funding: $517,650 (non-federal match $517,650)
Project Period: January 2014 – January 2016
Partners: Bay Area Clean Water Agencies (BACWA), HDR Engineering, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), Delta Diablo (DD), East Bay Dischargers Authority (EBDA), Oro Loma Sanitary District (OLSD), San Jose/Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility (SJSC) and San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (SFRWQCB), San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) and ReNUWIt (Re-inventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure) which includes Stanford and UC Berkeley
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OUTPUTS (Activities, efforts, and/or work product during project period) |
OUTCOMES (Environmental results) |
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SHORT-TERM |
LONG-TERM |
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Conduct a comprehensive literature review of viable sidestream nutrient removal technologies Conduct bench and pilot tests of best-available sidestream nitrogen removal technologies at multiple wastewater treatment plants and evaluate feasible nutrient reductions to the SF Bay. The sidestream treatment technology of Anammox will be tested by EBMUD, SFPUC, and OLSD. Another innovative treatment technology (CANDO) will be piloted by Delta Diablo Estimate high-level cost & benefit of sidestream treatment Conduct hydrodynamic and water quality modeling using SFEI’s nutrient model (under development) to simulate potential water quality improvements to SF Bay assuming full-scale implementation of sidestream treatment by publicly-owned wastewater treatment works (POTWs) in SF Bay Evaluate the role of sidestream treatment in developing a science and cost effectiveness based regional approach to nutrient management in SF Bay Host 8 workshops with collaborators |
Identify cost-effective nutrient removal technologies for sidestream treatment Quantify potential nutrient load reductions to SF Bay and estimate the cost & benefit of sidestream treatment Simulate water quality improvements to SF Bay assuming full-scale implementation of sidestream treatment by POTWs in SF Bay |
Project results will help determine level of treatment for POTWs discharging to San Francisco Bay under the recent SF Bay-wide POTW permit. |
Full List of Project Summaries