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Brentwood water and wastewater updates: treatment capacity, PG&E delays and long‑running plant expansion
Summary
Public Works described limits in treatment capacity, a multi‑year wastewater plant expansion with contractor and PG&E delays, and planning for recycled water expansion to support west‑side development. Staff said treatment capacity is a key constraint on long‑term build‑out.
Brentwood’s Public Works staff told the City Council Feb. 4 that the city has water rights sufficient to serve future growth but that treatment and distribution capacity — not raw supply — is the critical bottleneck for long‑term expansion.
The city’s wastewater treatment capacity and related upgrades are a multi‑year program. Public Works noted the wastewater plant expansion project began in 2015, was financed partly through a State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan, and has encountered multiple design and construction delays. Staff said a key remaining delay is a two‑year PG&E queue for higher‑voltage electrical service needed to support upgraded equipment; that wait has materially stretched the construction schedule and increased project costs.
Public Works reported that the city currently treats up to about 16.5 million gallons per day and that, on current assumptions, the existing treatment capacity is projected to meet demand into the 2030s under conservative estimates. Staff cautioned that treatment capacity, peak daily demand and customer use patterns — not annual water rights alone — determine when additional treatment infrastructure will be required.
Staff described progress on recycled water infrastructure: park and school irrigation conversions are largely complete, and a recycled‑water main now reaches most major thoroughfares. Further recycled‑water pump upgrades and storage improvements (including a potential 1‑million‑gallon tank and pump upgrades) will be needed to serve the Innovation Center west side and future development; staff said design and cost estimates for those improvements will be prepared in the coming year or two.
Public Works also described a large organics management feasibility project that previously estimated a high capital cost. The department said an earlier proposal for an on‑site anaerobic digester and energy plant had ballooned in cost (the presentation cited earlier planning estimates that rose from roughly $90 million to about $160 million) and that federal tax‑credit changes have reduced the project’s feasibility; the department now plans a more conventional compliance approach that will require new collection routes and equipment.
Councilmembers asked about tradeoffs between expanding treatment capacity and restraining further development. Public Works stressed that land‑use decisions in the general plan interact with treatment capacity and that some capital expansions will be necessary to serve build‑out levels described in environmental analyses. Staff said they will bring more detailed supply/treatment options and projected costs back to council in future workshops and the budget process.
No decisions were made Feb. 4; staff will return with additional technical reports and cost estimates for council review during forthcoming budget workshops and CIP discussions.
