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Residents press district on water-reclamation project, ZLD findings and brine disposal options
Summary
Public commenters criticized the water-reclamation facility project and its brine disposal options; staff said the pilot zero-liquid-discharge (ZLD) effort recaptured roughly 99% of treated concentrate and that a final technical report is pending from the vendor and will be presented to the board.
Several residents at the March 12 meeting urged the Cambria CSD board to reconsider or stop aspects of the district’s water-reclamation facility (WRF) project, focusing on brine disposal and overall project cost.
Christine Heinrichs described the project as a continued “quest for magic water,” questioned the pilot’s documented results and said trucking brine or using an outfall would be costly and legally complicated. “At more than $30,000,000… the board continues to pour Cambria’s money into this failed project,” Heinrichs said, and urged the board to “mothball the plant.”
General Manager McElhaney and Vice President Dean responded that the board has directed staff to investigate disposal options and that staff reported the ZLD pilot recovered roughly 99% of the reclaimed water from the concentrate. McElhaney said the district is awaiting a final report from the pilot’s vendor (Global Water Innovations) and an independent review before presenting detailed operational conclusions; that report is in review and will be brought to the board when available. He also said county coordination is ongoing on options such as an interconnect with San Simeon for discharge or other brine-disposal strategies, but emphasized any arrangement would need county and permitting approvals and that nothing is finalized.
The WRF project’s recent planning-commission approval was appealed to the Board of Supervisors and may later go to the Coastal Commission; staff said they do not expect the appeal to halt the technical work but will continue outreach and analysis.
