Palo Alto staff recommend keeping current biosolids practice, reserving Measure E land for future processing

City of Palo Alto staff presented an update to the city’s biosolids facility plan and recommended continuing the city’s current approach — dewatering biosolids and hauling them offsite for composting or thermochemical processing — while reserving a portion of the Measure E strip adjacent to the treatment plant for possible future solids processing.

Tina, a city staff presenter, told the meeting the plant’s long‑range planning work evaluates options through 2055 and that Measure E (voter action in 2014) gave the city the option to use about 10 acres adjacent to the plant for future solids processing. Tina said staff’s near‑term recommendation is to continue the baseline practice and “reserve a portion of the Measure E site” for flexibility if regulations, technology, or regional partnerships change.

Corollo consultants presented the technical and financial analysis that underpins the recommendation. The Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant sits on roughly 25 acres and serves more than half a million people across six partner agencies; its dry‑weather capacity is 39 million gallons per day and peak wet‑weather capacity is 80 million gallons per day, and recent average daily dry‑weather flow was about 18 million gallons per day. Consultants noted the plant’s tight footprint and…