Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Water Recycling topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Orange County Sanitation District briefs Santa Ana on recycling, energy and trunk‑line work
Summary
Orange County Sanitation District presented to the Santa Ana City Council on wastewater treatment, water recycling partnerships that produce drinking‑quality water, energy generation from biosolids, and planned trunk‑line upgrades affecting Santa Ana neighborhoods.
Orange County Sanitation District General Manager Rob Thompson told the Santa Ana City Council that the agency now focuses on treatment, recycling and resource recovery in addition to public health protection. He described the district's two treatment plants and a long‑standing partnership with the Orange County Water District that produces purified recycled water fed to groundwater recharge wells.
Key figures Thompson cited include daily influent volumes in the roughly 190–190,000,000 gallons‑per‑day range and a recycled output of about 130,000,000 gallons per day (the agency's figures were provided as approximate in the presentation). He described a system that produces energy from biosolids (roughly 11 megawatts generated on site), fertilizer product from treated solids, and water suitable for groundwater replenishment and indirect potable reuse after microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet disinfection.
Thompson outlined short‑ and medium‑term projects that affect Santa Ana: a southern trunk renewal adjacent to planned development at Bristol and Sunflower (near the city's southern edge) and a Greenville trunk improvement planned roughly for 2028–2032 in older portions of the city. The district also said it is piloting advanced destruction technology for biosolids (a supercritical water oxidation demonstration) and considering deep‑well injection to sequester biosolids with potential carbon benefits.
On rates and budgets, Thompson described OC San as a large enterprise with roughly a half‑billion dollar annual program and an operating/capital mix staff characterized during the presentation as roughly $220 million for operations and about $268 million for capital in the current program; he said the district intends modest annual rate increases (3.5% per year projected for the next decade) to fund ongoing investment.
Council members asked about conservation'driven flow changes and impacts on solids loading; Thompson said lower flows reduce hydraulic volume but concentrate solids, increasing treatment load and maintenance needs, and that capital investments are planned accordingly. Staff said several projects in Santa Ana are at preliminary stages; specific schedules and construction impact notices will be coordinated with city staff.
Council members thanked OC San for the overview and requested continued coordination on project timing and community notifications; Thompson invited councilmembers to tour the new Fountain Valley headquarters and treatment facilities.
