Amador Water Agency plans pipeline to US Mine to dispose of backwash, says move will cut capital costs

Summary

Amador Water Agency told the Ione City Council its plan to send water-treatment backwash to US Mine via a new pipeline would avoid trucking, cut project costs by about $5 million and reduce sewer discharges that limit plant expansion; council and residents asked about easements, local benefit and oversight.

Larry Rose, a representative of Amador Water Agency, told the Ione City Council the agency plans to build a pipeline to deliver filter backwash to US Mine for beneficial reuse, rather than trucking the waste or discharging it to the city sewer system. "The backwash water is considered wastewater. It's not municipal wastewater. It's not, like, domestic sewage, but it is considered wastewater from a regulatory perspective," Rose said.

Rose said the agency currently produces about 75,000 gallons per day of backwash, recycles roughly 90% inside the plant and sends about 7,500 gallons per day to the city's sewer system. Expanding the Ione treatment plant will increase backwash volumes and the agency has concluded it cannot indefinitely rely on the city's constrained sewer capacity. The agency has reached an agreement with US Mine to accept backwash and plans to construct a new pipeline to the mine property.

The agency characterized the arrangement as an avoided capital expense: taking the pipeline-and-connection option reduces the estimated…

Amador Water Agency plans pipeline to US Mine to dispose of backwash, says move will cut capital costs

Summary

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