Stantec outlines 30% design for Los Olivos–Solvang wastewater connection, recommends two lift stations and 6-inch force main

Stantec engineers told the Ellis Legal Community Services District Technical Subcommittee that a 30% design for connecting Los Olivos to the City of Solvang is feasible if Solvang completes planned system upgrades first. Carrie Poytruss, Stantec’s principal in charge, said the firm is finalizing the draft memo and design drawings and expects to file the 30% package in the next three weeks.

Johnny Zukowski Lukowski, a Stantec project engineer, summarized the technical approach: two lift stations (an east-side “Grand Avenue” station and a larger Santa Barbara station) are proposed to avoid a single, very deep excavation. “Sending flow during their low-flow periods is probably the best solution for both parties, for Los Olivos and for the City of Solvang,” Zukowski said, describing how diurnal flow patterns reduce inundation risk. Stantec recommended modest equalization storage at the lift stations and a 330 gallons-per-minute design pump to balance storage needs and pump cycling.

The firm’s hydraulic modeling led the team to recommend a 6-inch HDPE force main for the alignment. Stantec said a 4-inch pipe at the selected design flow would produce excessive head loss and require much larger pump capacity, while a 6-inch pipe keeps velocities and friction losses at workable levels on the predominantly downhill route to Solvang.

Board members asked that the final memo call out peaking-factor assumptions and note conservative estimates used for maximum-day modeling. Guy Savage, the district’s general manager, and other committee members requested the report add language explaining the tradeoffs between storage volume, pump sizing and operational cost. Stantec agreed to add clarifying paragraphs before submitting the 30% design package.