BOS Agenda 1-5-2016 - The Los Osos Items

The two items below have the links to their relevant support documents. The road repairs were a result of the sewer project; and the groundwater basin item relates to sewers due to the recycled water going back into the basin. 

Consent Agenda - Public Works Items: 

13. Submittal of a resolution authorizing execution of notice of completion and acceptance for the construction of the FY 2014 Asphalt Overlay, Various Roads in Los Osos.District 2. (The money for this came out of the County's road fund,"This is a multi-year project budgeted in the Road Fund at $4,044,988 WBS 300519." 

14. Submittal of an Initial Notification of Intent to the California Department of WaterResources (DWR) to explore a boundary modification for the Los Osos GroundwaterBasin. District 2. 

On #14, the statement from the staff report most relevant to Los Osian pocketbooks is:

Costs associated with submittal of this initial notification to DWR and engagement with Basin users are within the Flood Control District’s FY 2015-16 budget. We will return to your Board at a future date if any further action is necessary. HOWEVER, we will be paying our share back once the respective boards making up the Basin Plan Committee finds out the cost and gets each board's approval to pay it. 

The last time the basin boundaries were looked at was 2003. New information delineates the basin differently. When you look at the map of this, there looks to be a confusion of the meaning of the word "basin." The DWR lines seem to outline a watershed. But when you drive down the valley, farmers are watering crops. Where does that water come from? Has any of those non-Los Osos water supplies been studied and are the farmers having water issues too? 

I hope this all goes smoothly and we don't get another awful delay as we did by stopping the 2005 sewer. The water supply has gone downhill since then due to no water traveling back to the lower aquifer (which is a hit down the road actually - it takes 20-30 years to get the water down to the lower aquifer, our main water supply, from the giant Broderson leach field). The CSD's bankruptcy due to stopping the sewer meant that there was no money for water conservation measures that would have helped. Also, with no sewer project, one wonders what the CSD could have done as they do not serve water to Golden State customers anyway. They could not make those people conserve. Without the sewer nexus, only half measures could have been done. Really, the $29 million we are paying to have this thing out of town is the least of the problems. The elephant-sized problem is the cost of doing nothing to save our basin for so many, many years. The delay caused not just the sewer costs to go up, but our water supply "fixes" as well.

The Lowdown On Laterals!

Mark your calendars!! 

The County is doing an Open House on the sewer lateral connections on 

January 23, 2015. 

Read about it under this header off of the link below:

Recent News and Events

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/PW/LOWWP.htm

ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ

The November 2015 Baseline Groundwater Quality Report is available now too. Monitoring the levels of chemicals in our water is part of the Waste Discharge Permit issued by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board for the sewer project.

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/PW/LOWWP/Baseline+Groundwater+Quality+Report+Dec+2015.pdf

ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ

As to the airing of grievances, Los Osos famously does it at every public meeting. Even so,

Happy Festivus to one and all!!

Basin Management Committee

This is not too sewerish of a post, but it is about water, and as we know, what is sewage when our spiffy new sewage plant is online next year, that liquid will be water to drink in 30 years from now or even sooner ,once the Broderson leach field is up and running.

So, since our returned-from-the-sewer-plant-water is part of the water plan for Los Osos, it seems only fitting to put out the word that the very first meeting of the brand new Basin Management Committee will be meeting Monday, December 14, 2015,1:30 p.m. at the South Bay Community Center. Here is a link to the agenda:

http://www.losososcsd.org/Library/LOS%20OSOS_%20Agenda%20for%20Initial%20BMC%20mtg%20(rev%2012%209%2015%20clean)%20(14154882-1).pdf

See you there! 

Los Osos Sewer Update!

The October sewer update has just been released! Read all about it here, no wait - if you don't want to read this, just click on the link and look at the pictures, one in particular, is just stellar!!

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/PW/LOWWP/PM+Monthly+Update+Oct2015.pdf

Wipes Wreak Ruin!

"New York, New York a helluva town!" And now, in the sewers, it's a hellish town—due to—yes, WIPES! They do not break down and must be removed from the screens in the city's wastewater treatment plants. These undissolvable blobs have more than doubled since 2008 and have cost the city $18 million since 2010, although there are other costs not enumerated for other wipe-related repairs. These cloth-like items include baby wipes, medicated wipes (hemorrhoids), "feminine" wipes, and the everyday (post-evacuation) clean-up kind.

New York has either gained much additional population, residents are either having more kids, more posterior medical issues or have become more religious (cleanliness is next to godliness). Please have a look off of the link below. You will see on the right side of that page what that glop looks like. (Fortunately, it is a smallish photo and the colorful results of wipeage have been washed away.)

http://www.amny.com/news/wet-wipes-clogging-nyc-plumbing-and-sewer-systems-1.11153775

This has been a problem in many places, including Los Osos' Bayridge Estates. So, future sewer users of Los Osos, wake up! When we have our spiffy new plant in place, we need to keep potential problems we might cause at the forefront of our minds in the bathroom. There is a solution to this problem and in case you didn't get to the to the end of the linked article, here is a video that explains what that is: Heinie Giene!

Speak Up To Stop Sewer Sludge Spreading!

A copy and paste message from David Broadwater: (I'll admit I personally am confused - wastewater has to be SO CLEAN to be used on crops - how does this get a pass?)

SPECIAL REQUEST FROM THE CENTER FOR SLUDGE INFORMATION

From: David Broadwater, CSI   To: SLO County Citizens, re:  Sewage Sludge Spreading on County Farms Planned Stop Draft Ordinance CEQA/EIR Process - Please Help SLO County is proposing an ordinance allowing sewage sludge land application on agricultural lands growing food for human consumption, feed for animals and used for grazing livestock.  The proposed ordinance permits the spreading of excessively contaminated sewage sludge and massive increases in soil contamination with toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, pathogenic and hormone-disrupting pollutants. The draft ordinance does not comply with County Board of Supervisors directions to County Staff about the type of ordinance which should be constructed to permit sewage sludge land application on SLO County lands.  The failures of the draft ordinance to conform with those directions render it unqualified for the CEQA/EIR review the County has initiated. The CEQA/EIR process currently underway must be halted. Please contact CSI for a copy of the letter sent to various County decision-makers, and consider joining CSI in recommending cessation of the CEQA/EIR process on this grossly deficient and dangerous draft ordinance.  The tools for doing so (email addresses) are below.  This will not be easy - the train's left the station and it's gaining momentum.  Your help is essential.  Please forward this email to others who may be interested. The conflicts with BofS directions are listed on the first page.  CSI's recommendations for CEQA/EIR cessation and starting with a correct ordinance appear on page two, followed by a brief background.  The remaining pages (19 total) present detailed documentation substantiating the inconsistencies of this draft ordinance with BofS directions.  While that section of the letter is long, and perhaps tedious, it is necessary to make an irrefutable case that the CEQA/EIR process should be halted immediately.   Thank you, David Broadwater Center for Sludge Information   CONTACT: csi@thegrid.net

Brussels Sewer Museum Reopens!

There are only two sewer museums in the world and one that has been closed for over a year, the Brussels one, has reopened! Remember to visit on your next European tour!

Here is a quote from the first article about it which is linked below:

"This is a hostile environment with putrid stenches, numerous hazards including illicit disposal of toxic substances or those of insects, rats and pathogenic micro-organisms."

On the up-side, there is a gift shop which has rat dolls. (I would hope that they carry Poop costumes as well!)

Oh heck, we in Los Osos all have giant containers of hostile contents right in our own yards. Only during septic tank pumping do we get a fuller experience of what is contained therein. Can't wait for our sewer hook-up so I can say goodbye to that giant kettle of crap!

http://www.xpats.com/bowels-city-we-visit-brussels-reopened-sewer-museum

http://www.xpats.com/brussels-sewers-museum-reopens-its-doors-public

Toilet Golf

Yes, it is still very slow in the sewer news department, but it is time once again to turn one's mind from public works projects to—yes—THE HOLIDAYS; so a slight segue from sewers is permissible I believe. 

Somehow, this early, one can say •that word• (THE HOLIDAYS) and not go straight into panic mode the way one would on say, December 22, and you have not yet thought about cards, let alone gifts for anyone, and all that you have in the fridge is a box of freezer-burned mac'n'cheese from Budget Gourmet. Hey, maybe you have managed a list by this point, but you know that you have forgotten someone, like maybe your boss.

Well, to get a head start this year, I'm offering up an idea—at least for your friends who like golf! I get all sorts of strange stuff in my E-mail Inboxes, but this one item really caught my eye: toilet golf! I clicked on the link in the E-mail a second time about an hour later and the item was GONE! But a quick Google search landed many offerings!

Happy shopping!

Opensky

Brookstone

Oriental Trading

Bed Bath and Beyond

ebay

Bug Poop and Bee Vomit

You can already tell by the title of this thing that it is pretty quiet on the Los Osos sewer front if I am resorting to sensationalistic tricks to keep readership over here - all two or three of you anyway if that qualifies as a readership. (I suspect the hits I get are just bots from Russia looking for spam opportunities.) You probably have better things to do, and so should I. However, I ran across a fascinating story on a feed that I get and it was startling to say the least. Who really thought deeply about where honey comes from? (I could segue over to honey huts from here, but I will restrain myself, although that could make an interesting topic for the next post, things being SO quiet and all.)

WARNING: To go beyond this point you may never look at honey the same, and may never eat it again either.

OK, here goes, we'll ease gently into this reveal: baby birds are probably not conflicted by this vomit thing, as the thing that keeps you alive is rarely questioned (sewer malcontents listen up!). Cows upchuck grass to chew it some more to make it digestible. Some women pre-chew food before giving it to their babies. Honey, the regular non-staff-of-life stuff we stir into our tea or squirt from a plastic bear onto our toast, is really bee upchuck ("...100,000 vomits"* to make a pound of honey). Maybe we sort of knew that about honey - we did take a biology class along the road somewhere, right, bees gathering nectar/honeycombs, etc.? (We know that eating crispy coconut shrimp is just eating dressed up ocean bugs, right?)

Here's the really disgusting part though: some honey is made from the poop of scale insects!

Read on for a fascinating tale in honey manufacturing - you may as well; going down the page this far you are probably already thinking about tossing that golden jar into the recycle bin, and I'll bet I've ruined coconut shrimp too. Sorry about that, but you were warned.

* http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/your-new-favorite-honey-is-made-out-of-bug-poop-and-bee-vomit

Pooh!

A kindred soul in sewer blog writing from Stinson Beach, California has thoughtful, brilliantly written monthly columns, far different than these frequent Sewer Saga slap dashes to keep my two or three readers up to date. Please visit http://californiacoastdweller.com or Pooh! as the title proclaims, and rummage around for some good sewer reads! One of my favorites is this one: http://californiacoastdweller.com/2015/03/30/1596/

It is comforting to know in some strange alternate universe sort of way that Los Osos is not alone in its 35-year denial of sewage contamination if still alone in the belief from back in the bad old days that we had "magic sand," thereby eliminating the need to treat waste differently than septic tanks, cramed eight to twelve per acre as they are. That I think is still unique.

Well, we now face millions in payments, not just for our spiffy new sewer plant which will be online next year, but for all the water infrastructure changes that we will also have to pay for due to wrecking our water supply that is pooled beneath our town. I'm sure some day I will stop being dazed by this amazing lack of connecting the dots between leach fields and the water supply beneath them. These changes must be made, cost what they may as there is no alternate water supply.

The average income in Stinson Beach is $100,000, considerably less* than that in Los Osos. Once SB is sewered, there will not be a mass exodus from those unable to afford their homes. The exodus from Los Osos, long predicted by the sewer deniers when it was $29 million cheaper than now and earlier, costing far less than that, will likely come to pass. People with rentals are raising rents right now and homes that are big time fixer uppers are selling for quite generous prices. Well, at least those forced out will have a lucrative goodbye, I guess that is the rather sad upside. I just doubt that all of these people are the ones responsible for causing this economic disaster. The ones that are will never admit it and they will continue to live here.

*Correction! Oops - meant to say MORE there! Thanks for the catch gentle reader!

Broadwater On Sludge

I attended the Water Resources Advisory Committee meeting last Wednesday and the first speaker at public comment was David Broadwater. He had a handout on sewage sludge (see below - wish I could give you a single pdf - but those aren't uploadable on blogger.com. Click each picture for a larger size). He has spoken and written on the topic for many years which you can see if you google "Broadwater" and "sewage sludge." 

We do not need to worry in Los Osos on what is to become of our biosolids; they will be trucked far, far away as there is no safe place to put them here however non-industrial the composition. Below is a link to an interesting paper on this topic.

https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/59468/5.3.Schaefer.pdf?sequence=1

CDBG Funds To Los Osos Wastewater Project

Tuesday, November 10, off the Board of Supe's agenda:

Hearings

6. Hearing to consider a resolution approving and authorizing submittal of proposed amendments to the Urban County of San Luis Obispo Program Year 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 Action Plans for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds as requested: 1) by the City of Arroyo Grande to create a new project, and 2) by the County of San Luis Obispo to eliminate a project while reallocating funds to an existing project. All Districts. 

Here is a link to the documents:
http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Proposal.html?select=5317

Why is this important to Los Osos? Los Osos was not supposed to get any of these funds! The money was supposed to go to an organization called Central Coast Seniors in Oceano. It was to have been spent to rehabilitate their asphalt parking lot. However, to do that with this money, they would have had to pay prevailing wage to the workers and be subjected to the level of regulatory oversight required by CDBG  program, thus making the project impossible for the amount of money of the awarded funds.

So:

WHEREAS, the County of San Luis Obispo Department of Planning and Building request the amendment of the 2014 Action Plan to reallocate $15,000 from the “Street and Parking Improvements Projects” by the Central Coast Senior Center to the “Los Osos Wastewater Connections Project” by the County of San Luis Obispo Department of Public Works; 

The Supes are responding to the need for getting more money to those in need in Los Osos; this money could have gone elsewhere. Thanks Supes!

November 5 Financial Aid Meeting - Sewer Laterals-Septic Decommissioning!!

I expect that you got your postcard in the mail - so this is just a reminder that the sewer meeting is Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. at South Bay Community Center!

If you are unable to attend the meeting, please see this page for information:

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/PW/LOWWP.htm

A Bounty Of Biosolids!

The City of San Luis Obispo has an upcoming meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, November 3. On the 272-page agenda is an item on biosolids, the city's. They have a budgeted line item of $206,000 for fiscal year 2015-16 and $210,000 for fiscal year 2016-17. Now, they do have an output of 4.5 million gallons per day, which is quite a bit over our 1 million gallons per day at buildout and so the resultant biosolids and associated costs will be proportionally less for us when our plant is up and running. But it is fun to look at these costs and locations for transport—to get a heads up, more or less (or maybe it is bottoms down).

Here is a copy and paste of a small smattering of what is in their meeting packet for this item:

Other Agencies

Below is a brief description of what other agencies are doing with their biosolids. The City

generates more biosolids than many agencies because of its size and the treatment processes used

to attain the high level of water quality required to meet the WRRF’s discharge requirements.

Presently the City pays $44.23/ton for hauling and composting.

Cambria – $47.50/ton. Biosolids are hauled to Liberty Composting in the San Joaquin Valley,

composted, and then marketed for a variety of uses.

City of Morro Bay - $46.00/ton. Biosolids are hauled by McCarthy Farms in the San Joaquin

Valley, composted, and then marketed for a variety of uses.

South San Luis Obispo Sanitary District - $36.50/ton. Biosolids are hauled by Engel and Gray,

Inc., composted, and then marketed for a variety of uses.

City of Paso Robles – $7.19/ton. Biosolids are hauled to the City-owned landfill and used as

alternative daily cover.

Pismo Beach - $48.68/ton. Biosolids are hauled by Engel and Gray, Inc., composted, and then

marketed for a variety of uses.

Here is a link to the agenda:

http://www.slocity.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=7185

(Look for item six, then click the header link for the support documents.)

Engel and Gray, Inc. was always the facility discussed for our output, and the sewer disruptors (I am running out of descriptors for these people) flailed arms and spittle and warned of looming disaster should Engel and Gray close its doors to us. But as we can see, there are other facilities available, so I am officially putting that alarmist, pot-stirring fear to rest in the compost heap. And I will also add, that I am sure that we will have a very high quantity of output, guaged by the amount of unprocessed biosolids that are frequently flung from the mouths of the sewer detractors at the various meetings in Los Osos.

Toilet to Tap in 24 Hours!

Yes, this could well be our future too.....someday when it is cheap enough for a small operation like ours!

http://patch.com/california/brentwood/could-toilet-water-be-new-drinking-water-0?utm_source=newsletter-daily&utm_medium=email&utm_term=health%20%26%20fitness&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_content=article-mostrecent

http://www.westbasin.org/files/press-releases/record-year-in-water-recycling.pdf

http://www.westbasin.org

Monarch Grove Update!

The Planning Commission held their meeting on Thursday, October 29, 2015 regarding Monarch Grove. The Commission voted unanimously "yes" to forward the proposal to the Board of Supervisors for their approval to include Monarch Grove in the Los Osos Urban Reserve Line. If approved, and all is good with the Coastal Commission (updating the LCP), Monarch Grove residents can discontinue the use of their package sewer plant and hook up to the Prohibition Zone's sewer. They already have their pipes in the ground and will now need to do an inspection of the lines so the County will take them. Faulty lines won't cut it as Bayridge found out.

New!! Financial Aid Meeting Info on County Site!

November 5, 2015: San Luis Obispo County and Peoples’ Self-Help Housing invite you to attend an informational meeting to be held Thursday, November 5, at 6 p.m. at South Bay Community Center, 2180 Palisades Avenue, Los Osos CA 93412 to get more information about financial aid.

Planning Commission Thursday - Monarch Grove Hook-Up

Tomorrow the Plannning Commission will have a hearing on whether or not to recommend to the Board of Supervisors to vote to include Monarch Grove into the urban reserve line of Los Osos. Right now it is not eligible to hook up to the sewer the rest of us are getting because they are outside of "the line."

Right now, they have their own mini wastewater treatment plant (a "package plant") to service the 83 lots in the subdivision.

Here is the link to the Planning Commission documents:
http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Proposal.html?select=5244

Here is what the Monarch Grove Homeowners Association had to say in 2007:
http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/PW/LOWWP/BOS+Related+Items/Letter+Monarch+HOA+BOS+8-28-07.pdf

Here is what was presented at the LOCSD meeting July 28, 2015 regarding Monarch Grove:
http://www.losososcsd.org/Library/2015%20Agenda%20Packets/08.06.15/Agenda%20Item%2012B%20Approve%20Reimbursement%20Agreement%20btwn%20LOCSD%20and%20Monarch%20HOA.pdf

Johnny, the Running Toilet Mascot

Los Osos is behind the times! Why didn't Los Osos, whose fame—(regrettably) rests in part on sewage, think of this—especially since we are in a terrible drought! Wasting water is considered tantamount to a federal crime in these parts! NO toilets should be running in this town, except after having been employed for their specific purpose, and even then, only under the "If it's yellow, it's mellow....." rule! Granted, Raleigh, North Carolina is a CITY of 431,746 souls, established in 1788, so they do have a bit of heft and age on us, but—!—they are not famous for sewage! (Eventually we won't be either, once the sewer is in and the whiners give up their favorite sport. However, Hell is probably experiencing climate change as well, as I think even a slight cooling is unlikely to happen, ever. In other words, have no hope for the whiners to shut it down........but I can dream!)

So, let's enjoy this fantastic creature, representing a fixture sometimes referred to as "the throne," and look at what Johnny the Running Toilet is doing and what we can learn from him (he is so cute I just want to pinch his little lid):

https://www.raleighnc.gov/home/content/PubUtilAdmin/Articles/MascotsIntro.html

https://www.facebook.com/Johnny-The-Running-Toilet-784307731610638/

Poop Fairy Fraud Exposed!

(Click the image to see the larger size where you can really see the clothespin on the fairy's nose!)

This will be a non-sewer topic today—on a product, that if of human origin, we would require its collection.....but we don't.....as it is dog poop. Too much of it sits around in parks—like the Elfin Forest—and in front yards and parkways around town.

I think some people in Los Osos are believers—that the existence of Poop Fairies is real, gauging by the amount of poop left out in the open, as if a scooper team would fly by in the night and remove the offending particles, and the sun would rise and the streets would shine with cleanliness and safe walking areas. (Actually, the mind set is not too different than the mind set of the people who were true believers in Magic Sand, back in the Sewer War days, "We don't need no stinkin' sewer, we have Magic Sand!" Who can forget our Magic Sand?!)

Well, a couple of counties in different states have posted that these beings DO NOT actually exist, with cute graphics proving so, and I think that these places must be inhabited by optimistic folks who harbor a warm and fuzzy feeling about their fellow beings and their abilities toward responsible dog product pick-up. 

Have a look, and be sure to play the videos on the first of the two links below.

http://www.bernco.gov/public-works/poop-fairy.aspx

http://jeffco.us/sheriff/animal-control/poop-fairy/

Septics! Decommission & Reuse Plan

0. Off the Board of Supervisors Agenda:
   
   Tuesday, October 20, 2015
   Board Business:
   
   
1. 20. Presentation of a project update and Septic System Decommissioning and Reuse Plan for the Los Osos Wastewater Project. District 2. 
   
   
   I will post a link the relevant documents when they are available.
   

http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Proposal.html;jsessionid=EF4356F8545612AC36B3D99A3F42B1F4?select=5211

Tillman Water Reclamation Plant

Water Online recently posted the tech side of the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in the San Fernando Valley in an online article! I wrote a piece on this some years back which you can find at this link: Gamelan Concert

Read the latest here and find out more about bar screens vs. climber screens than you ever imagined you would—unless of course you are a wastewater professional.

http://www.wateronline.com/doc/years-of-tranquility-at-water-reclamations-plant-and-japanese-garden-courtesy-of-headworks-bar-screens-0001?sectionCode=TOC&templateCode=Single&user=2124006&source=nl:44029&utm_source=et_10759433&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WOL_2015-10-08&utm_term=8B6151B5-326C-4D25-A47F-7FA24BE85D17&utm_content=8%2bYears%2bOf%2bTranquility%2bAt%2bWater%2bReclamation%2bPlant%2bAnd%2bJapanese%2bGarden

Don't Pee On Me!

San Francisco has had an ongoing problem with public urination. Well, just one gender is responsible for this problem, but I will let it go un-named. Anyway, the city realized it had to take this problem seriously when a three-story tall light post fell over due to corrosion. Sure, it was only one of the 25,000 that the city has, and no one was killed, the car it flattened was unoccupied, but there could be more about to go, right? (Granted, in this case, some of this corrosion may have been due to the urinary work of dogs—also of that same, un-named gender.) To fix the problem, San Francisco contacted a company in Florida that makes a specialized type of paint. It repels liquids! So the pee splashed back onto the shoes and pant legs of the pee-er! I'm not sure how this works with dogs....

This idea was first used in Germany, specifically Hamburg's St. Pauli quarter, where a LOT of late night beer drinkers were too blitzed to find a bathroom.

The program in San Francisco has been a great success! The calls to Public Works for steam cleaning has gone down 17% since last year. So far eight walls have been painted with eight more to be done next week. The cost (a few hundred dollars) is far less than the $80 an hour it costs to steam clean the walls.

Take a look at the video on the product Ultra-Ever Dry, especially the mud test at the end! Sadly, but wisely I suppose, there is no actual pee demo on the video so use your imagination as to how this actually works!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPM8OR6W6WE

Sewer Update! August 2015!

Read all about it off of this ink and note the photos:
http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/PW/LOWWP/PM+Monthly+Update+Aug2015.pdf

We are in the final six month countdown to the finish, AND on schedule! 

Don't Fall In!

Today I heard a cautionary tale which may be useful to pass on as next year we will be decommissioning our septic tanks. I will not reveal names involved or the location, other than to say it happened in this county of San Luis Obispo—recently, to a person who bought an as-is home. It happened at a home using a septic tank, although, apparently, it can happen at homes where a septic tank has been abandoned improperly after a sewer hook-up.

(Note: Many in Los Osos have not pumped their their tanks in 30+ years. We have not pumped ours in 10, and actually don't have much of an idea as to where it is located. We have a suspiciously verdant couple of trees that we have never watered, so.....)

Anyway, this person was digging around in the yard to find the septic tank on this recently purchased house. He/she had an idea where it was and was removing soil over what he/she thought was the concrete lid. Chopping about 6" into a pile of dirt however, down the shovel suddenly shot; he/she caught it, fortunately, in the nick of time. The "lid" to the septic tank it turned out, was made out of corrugated fiberglass panels, the concrete lid—gone. The person quickly exited the lid area, grateful that it had not collapsed.

(I am guessing as to the color of those panels, but see-through was just too ghastly to contemplate.)

SO.....when decommissioning time comes, and you might want to be doing some of the digging yourself, WATCH OUT, unless you already know what is down there. Septic tanks can KILL.

For further reading, follow this link:

http://www.septicprotector.com/deathpage.html

Sewer Tour Successful!

The third tour of our Los Osos Wastewater Treatment Plant on September 24, 5:00-6:00 p.m. was quite a success. Around 60 of the curious showed up to see what was going on out there behind the cemetery. Some of us will go anywhere for free food—cookies and little water bottles were on hand to keep one from fainting from the heat (which was pretty abominable). That was smart on the County's part, and I for one am grateful! 

A snappy color print out was handed around so that one had a map of the tour and what the various buildings and black pits were named. I took photos and will include them after the scan below that I did of the County handout.

John Waddell headed up the tour and we learned some useful bits of information. 75% of the plant is complete. The Septic Tank Reuse program will go before the Board of Supervisors October 20, this year. January 2016 is the most likely date for the next Town Hall. There will be monthly meetings starting next March when we all start connecting. It will take around a year for all of us to hook up and this process will be done in phases. More to come on that. (Click on the image to see a larger size.)

You really couldn't see much of the Secondary Clarifiers or the Oxidation Ditches from the ground.

On our walk in, a drone buzzed around overhead. I waved and smiled. I hope the film will be edited into a video with a score like last time - it was really, really, quite coolski.

Administration Building is on the left above. The Water Quality Lab will be inside. On the right, the roof is on but the Chemical Facility beneath it is not in yet.

Administration Building.

Effluent Pump Station. Note the port-a-pottie. Several of those were scattered around (so you really know that this place is not up and running yet.....).

Ramp at the Effluent Pump Station for trucks to unload septage (only from the Los Osos area).

Shooting into the sun was not the best idea..... This is REW Pond 2 on your aerial view up top.

This is the wall between REW Ponds 1 and 2. I'm not sure how this works or why it is there.

This is REW Pond 1.

This is the front of the Dewatering Facility. Not sure what those gun-like things are....

Stormwater Pond. The ponds, when full of course, will be able to accommodate helicopters that scoop water to fight fires.

This is a view of the fencing around the facility. The Storm Water Pond is to the left in this shot.

Serious piping to the left of the Sludge Storage Tanks. Those sludge tanks look better from the aerial shot, there really isn't much to see from the ground.

Project Manager John Waddell explains the tertiary filter process. There are 20 discs of cloth media inside the tanks. These two small units can process 1 million gallons a day. Hmmmm. Sounds suspiciously like the 2005 sewer technology that got crashed by 19 votes - the membrane bioreactor plant at Tri-W (to be PC, the "Midtown Site"). To the right of this is the area for the UV disinfection, where lots of lights kill the bugs remaining. To the left is the chemical facility as some chlorine must be used to keep stuff from growing in the pipes.

To the east of the tertiary filters is this cheery patriotic hued tanks tableau. This set-up is there for fire suppression, should there be the need. There are a few small wells on the property, but none with enough output to stop a fire, hence the storage of water for instant and ample use.

The green monster is a hefty-sized generator inside the Electrical Building. Work WILL go on if the power goes out.

Then we all walked back to where we parked our cars along the sewer plant's fence and at the cemetery. We passed by two clumps of the stuff in the photo below.

I know Pampas grass is invasive and horrible, but back-lit as this was, it was rather beautiful.

And that was the end of our one hour tour.

Septic System Reuse Options Meeting!

Off the County's wastewater webpage:

September 24, 2015: The project team and Central Coast Green Build will give a presentation at the 7pm LOCAC meeting on septic system reuse options for use when connecting properties to the wastewater project. For more information, review this draft Septic System Reuse brochure and visit the LOCAC webpage for the upcoming meeting agenda.

June & July Updates

Oops. I missed these somehow. Well, take a look - a good idea before our sewer tour next Thursday!

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/PW/LOWWP/PM+Monthly+Update+Jun2015.pdf

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/PW/LOWWP/PM+Monthly+Update+July2015.pdf

Doing It Right

I was at Noi's Little Thai Takeout in Baywood on Tuesday for lunch and saw something I'd only heard about before—cooking oil recycling. Naturally Noi's would do this right, as she does cooking right (in ten years of Thai food that I have eaten, never any meal was less than perfect).

What I saw was a tank truck and a hose that looked like one from Al's Septic.

Then I noticed this:

A guy with the hose just attaching it to some above ground outlet. I didn't want to be too obvious about this picture taking; I think no one would recognize him here so I won't get sued or anything. Anyway, the name on the truck was "Salinas Tallow" and the picture became clear.

This is what we need to do when our new sewer comes online peeps! NOT put fat, especially fat that will solidify, down our drains! Who know what we are doing now, it is an individual thing, and I suspect that we are all cheap enough to not abuse our septic tanks for our own good. But lest we forget, it will be a whole new era of flushing, one of flushing into into a communal pipe. What someone does downhill with grease could well affect what doesn't go down when we uphill flushers flush! Remember that London Fatburger post from some months back? 

I do sometimes have nightmares about certain sewer obstructionists who claimed a gravity system would fail as they, weeping and tooth gnashing, were forced to live without their beloved STEP/STEG system. I fear sabotage frankly, but it is probably very bad to put those thoughts out there just in case this idea has not yet been crocheted into an actual plot from strands of personal bitterness, rent hair, and bacon grease.

On another note, on the way home from SLO today, this was in front of me! Please click on the image for the larger size. It is always a jolly day when you can see the oversized license plate with "SHT2GO" in big red letters on Al's trucks.....ahhh, Los Osos, what a bubbly zest for life we have here!