I sure don't know how I missed this one, but the Estero Bay News caught it!
Neil Farrell, someone who was very generous with his time, information, and photos for my book on Los Osos—and that is an excellent writer and that I can't thank enough— wrote a fascinating article on the topic!
Have a look: https://esterobaynews.com/ban-extended-on-human-wastes-as-fertilizer/
(I LOVE the Estero Bay News!)
Just a quick update to an earlier post (January 4) on the floating solar panels for our Water Reclamation Facility, which I always prefer calling our WWTF (Wastewater Treatment Facility) - it just sounds more apropos for a sewer blog (and there are two "o"s and two "p"s in that word I just noticed - well, never mind)!
Anyway, the solar panels passed for our plant without a hitch on the Consent Calendar of the Board of Supervisors last Tuesday, January 26! It was not pulled and all Supes voted YES!!
Now, on to the wombats. I subscribe to an online science magazine and this article popped up yesterday. Did you know that the squarer the poop, the healthier the wombat? Well, take a look those of you interested in such things! It is not something we will encounter here, but I wonder if there are any square coprolites unearthed anywhere - I'll bet no one has looked.
Too fun!!
https://www.tpomag.com/tags/bug-of-the-month
Wastewater aficionados, do not miss this, these guys are cute!
Coming right up on the Regional Water Quality Board's agenda for their Friday, January 29 meeting! Here is a link to that agenda:
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/board_info/agendas/2021/01_jan_28/index.html
Waste Discharge Requirements
10. Consideration of Order No. R3-2021-0007, Termination of Order 00-12, General Waste Discharge Requirements for Residential On-Site Wastewater Systems Within the Bayview Heights and Martin Tract Areas of Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County.
[James Bishop, 805/542-4628, James.Bishop@waterboards.ca.gov, Harvey Packard, 805/542-4639, Harvey.Packard@waterboards.ca.gov]
Here is a link to the order:
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/board_info/agendas/2021/01_jan_28/item10_att1.pdf
Here is a link to the staff report:
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/board_info/agendas/2021/01_jan_28/item10_stfrpt.pdf
Sounds like the cost of flushing is now just around the bend for the non Prohibition Zone residents on septic tanks.
FINALLY! Something new to post about OUR sewer!!! Floating solar panels are on the agenda for Tuesday's Board of Supes meeting!! (And not the floaters in a letter ascribed to Roger Briggs of the Water Board so many, many years ago as a comment on the perils of a ponding system for wastewater treatment....)
Here is the agenda:
https://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/iip/sanluisobispo/file/getfile/129235
It is item 31 on the Consent Agenda - Public Works Items:
"Submittal of a resolution to approve power purchase agreement, site lease agreement and consent and non-disturbance agreement with Floating Solar Solutions SLO County I, LLC; approve an application for partial release, subordination or consent with the United States Department of Agriculture for the Los Osos Water Recycling Facility in Los Osos; request to waive the Contract for Services Policy; and find the project exempt from Section 21000 et seq. of the California Public Resources Code (CEQA). District 2"
It is on the Consent Agenda which goes quickly if no one pulls the item (fingers, toes crossed that this does not happen).
Here are all the links to the documents, the map is particularly lovely:
https://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/iip/sanluisobispo/file/getfile/128315
A quote from the link above:
"The floating solar installation will provide three major benefits to the LOWRF and the wastewater ratepayers: reducing energy costs by offsetting consumption, improving recycled water quality, and reducing water loss from evaporation."
https://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/iip/sanluisobispo/agendaitem/details/12735
https://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/iip/sanluisobispo/file/getfile/128308
This was originally discussed in 2017. It is a real bonus to have this better solar version happen since we could not get the regular kind way back when the plant was being designed. We can flush and think "energy" as panels float serenely on the pond. And they will save over four acre feet of water per year which won't evaporate!
Oh so many sewer years rolled by with Assembly Bill 885 languishing in the background. You can read all about it here:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=199920000AB885
The history can be accessed here:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billHistoryClient.xhtml?bill_id=199920000AB885
Now, this supposedly was approved in 2012 according to this news article—with some contentious bits, and that stalling I do recall:
https://www.independent.com/2012/06/22/septic-system-regulations-california-adopted/
But something must have happened before its voyage to San Luis Obispo County. Maybe our Local Agency Management Program (LAMP) just got created? I found a fact sheet for 2017 off the website, but where has this been hiding? There are some holes in this story for a sewer follower like me to have just heard about this on Wednesday. The County website on the topic is this:
https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Planning-Building/Permitting/Construction-Permits/Local-Agency-Management-Program.aspx
I found this on that website, but why did LOCAC not hear about this? Outreached to whom?
The County hosted two public outreach meetings in December 2017 to present the Proposed Final version of the LAMP.
Monday, December 18th 5:00PM- 6:30PM
San Luis Obispo County New Government Center, 1055 Monterey Street, San Luis Obispo (Room 161)"
You can check out the cool PowerPoint that the County presented at the Basin Management Committee meeting on Wednesday, by Michael Byrd of County Planning & Building. Bayview Heights and the Martin Tract are NOT affected by this, they still belong to the RWQCB - our Central Coast Water Board.
The State has transferred the responsibility of new septic tank approval, and replacement tank approval to the County apparently in 2012. But even LOCAC, the Los Osos Community Advisory Council, has not run into this one, and we have seen Accessory Dwelling Units, mentioned in the regulations - although apparently the one or two we have seen (I forget the number now) and approved, and passed through the Planning Department, have wound up stalled at the Coastal Commission, but they were hooked up to the sewer. Could it be our adjudicated basin's water issue perhaps? State law seems to think an impaired water basin should not be an issue for an ADU. Oh well. Happy PowerPointing, there is a LOT of stuff packed in here:
https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Public-Works/Forms-Documents/Committees-Programs/Los-Osos-Basin-Management-Committee-(BMC)/Agendas/2020-Agendas/2020-12-16-LOBMC-Presentation-on-the-Local-Agency.pdf
The Basin Management Committee will meet on Zoom, Wednesday, December 16 at 1:30 p.m.. Their board packet was released Friday and contained this quote about sewer hook-ups in Los Osos!
Enforcement: A list of properties that were not connected were transferred to County Code Enforcement and Notice of Violations were issued last year in Feb. 2019. That list was about 70 properties. As of 10/1/2020, the sewer service area had a 99.2% connection status with a total of 44 properties not yet connected. Of those, one is not required to connect because there is no structure (demolished), 24 have expired building permits, and the rest have an open Code Enforcement case. Expired permits did not receive a Code Enforcement case because those properties have their own noticing process through the Building Department which, if not corrected, could result in a Notice of Violation. The County has assigned new staff in code enforcement to Los Osos. They will be reviewing the status of cases that were issued earlier last year.
So, I'm lousy at math, but 44 minus one leaves 43 outstanding non-hook-ups. And of that, 19 will be visited by Code Enforcement. That brings questions to my mind:
• Expired permits for what? Are people living in the expired permit houses? A permit to hook up is what has expired?
• What are the penalties to the 19 who, I guess, have done nothing to hook up?
Also in that informative document - this!
It is very good to get some updated sewer news. It has been way-y-y-y too quiet on the sewer front these days! It is sort of like we are flushing and forgetting....but I guess I knew that was going to happen.
Source: https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Public-Works/Forms-Documents/Committees-Programs/Los-Osos-Basin-Management-Committee-(BMC)/Agendas/2020-Agendas/2020-12-16-LOBMC-Agenda-Packet.pdfA campaign to raise awareness over leaking toilets and the waste they cause, is highlighted in a cheeky debate over the benefits/worth of over/under hanging of a roll of toilet paper. Yes, this is real and cats are mentioned!
Thanks to the The Sacramento Regional Water Authority (RWA) and Maven's Notebook for bringing this to our attention!
Not to be missed! We got an excellent presentation by John Austin on our wastewater treatment facility at the October 21 Basin Management Committee Meeting. Here is a link:
On a practical note, we have a 99.2% rate of connections, which means practically everyone required to has hooked up, just 44 properties left to go!
You can hear the Zoom meeting and Mr. Austin giving his report off of this link:
Astoundingly, our nitrates are very much below the 7mg/l limit! Listen to the details on the problem with the Bayridge delivery pipe and the draining of one of the LOWWTP ponds.
Happy learning!
Don't miss the BMC meeting Wednesday, October 21 as a presentation of our water recycling facility will be given!!! It will be on Zoom, starting at 1:30 p.m..
"6. SPECIAL PRESENTATION
a. Los Osos Water Recycling Facility Presentation Recommendation: Receive an update presentation from San Luis Obispo County Flood Control & Water Conservation District Staff on the Los Osos Water Recycling Facility and the Recycled Water Program."
Here is a link to the agenda packet which has the Zoom link!
Be there, or be hopelessly square and uninformed!!
Our sewer battle royal was all about the nitrates in the groundwater. There was no way we could just clean it up at the source said the Water Board, without building an actual sewer plant first. Well, we have done that, and the plant has been operating now for four years. However, those of you who follow the LOCSD well problems, here's one that has been going on for a while:
. 10th Street Well Issues The 10th Street well has been out of service since June 15th. Since then staff, along with CleathHarris and Filipponi and Thompson Drilling, have been working on repairs to the well to get it back into service. Because of the age of the well, initially drilled in 1962, it was determined that the perforations that allow water to flow into the well and be pumped to the surface were corroded and clogged. When attempting to clean the lower part of the casing, the pipe had deteriorated so much it created a hole which allowed sand and debris to enter into approximately the bottom 80 feet of the well. An effort was made to remove the debris which recovered about 20 feet of the bottom. The well will be put back into service, after the partial rehabilitation work is completed, during the week of September 14th. Staff is currently reviewing options to do a full rehabilitation of the well once the higher water demand season has passed.
We all know the 3rd Street well has been offline for years now.
We might be needing help, not that this solution could come soon enough, but it might be food for thought for the future (see page 10 of 273 here - Basin Management Report
Now, check this out:
This one wins the lg Nobel Prize! In any case, I could not pass up something as....unusual.....as this for my sewer blog, even though it is a bit sideways from the stated topic. (No sewer was involved in this experiment.)
The explanation below!
If you somehow got through all of this, you might also want to read this:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/288746v1
But wait—there's more!
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vdx4ad/brown-death-a-history-of-poop-as-a-weapon-111;
(Okay, I'll quit now, promise.)
Ancient fecal remains are not too likely around here in all this sand, but a great story popped up on the latest issue of SLOCAS's "The Artifact" and it was just too good not to share. They posted the full journal article off this link: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/29/eaba6404.full
Definition, in case you forgot, or perhaps needed to forget:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolite
You may not want to feast your eyes on a bounty of these images after you have eaten, but it is worth a look other times:
I have a couple in my fossil collection, but the hour is late and I am too lazy to photograph and post them.
Should you need to buy some for YOUR collection, or books about them, I found these on Amazon:
I just checked the stats - people (read bots) are now reading this c-r-a-p stuff in Malta now! I am thrilled that Turkmenistan has given up it's vaunted status!
