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Consultants recommend oxidation ditch, estimate $100–$160 million to replace Tulare domestic wastewater plant
Summary
Corolla Engineers recommended building a new oxidation-ditch treatment plant to replace aging Tulare domestic facilities, citing operational reliability and future capacity needs; consultants estimate a full build-out at about $100–$160 million and recommended a rate study and predesign to follow.
Corolla Engineers told the Tulare Board of Public Utilities on Monday that the city’s domestic wastewater treatment plant is aging, increasingly outmatched by higher pollutant loadings, and should be replaced with a new oxidation-ditch process as the preferred path forward.
John Witter, project manager for Corolla Engineers, said the plant’s historical data and load projections support a planning design capacity of 7.1 million gallons per day (MGD) for full build-out, but that the existing plant’s effective biological capacity is closer to 4 MGD and is temperature-dependent. “With those increased loads that we’re seeing now, the actual plant capacity is closer to 4 MGD,” Witter said.
Why it matters: consultants noted most of the plant was built in the 1970s, with piecemeal work in later years, and several mechanical and structural…
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