SBSA News Advisory
Quick Action Averts Major Catastrophe at SBSA Wastewater Treatment Facility in Redwood City -
“We estimate we were within an hour of completely losing the entire facility.”
A major catastrophe was narrowly averted by staff at the South Bayside System Authority (SBSA) wastewater treatment plant in Redwood City, it was disclosed today.
An outdoor mounted conduit junction box leaked on Sunday, February 15, allowing water to enter a control panel, SBSA Manager Dan Child explained. The control panel shorted out and the plant control system closed a valve (among other things) that prevented water from leaving the filters, receiving disinfection, and ultimately being pumped to the outfall in San Francisco Bay.
“When this occurred, the water rose above the structures and ran down the stairwells into our tunnel system – where the vast majority of our plant equipment resides,” Child explained.
The water level rose to about 4 ½ feet in the tunnels before the plant staff was able to isolate the problem and get to a place where they could manually open the affected valve— allowing the water to flow through the treatment process again.
“We estimate we were within an hour of completely losing the entire facility,” Child said. “A lot of manpower is being expended to operate the facility in a mostly manual mode at this time and this is expected to last approximately 10 days.”
Child said that the plant lost many motors, along with electrical and plant control components due to the water damage.
“At this time it is impossible to put a firm dollar value on the loss, but the initial projection is the total cost will be somewhere between $250,000 and $500, 000,” Child asserted. “Much of this will be for replacement equipment, while the remainder will be for extra staff time and consultant time to reestablish the plant controls.”
As of Wednesday the plant is 75% back on automatic control with the equipment that does work. All wastewater flow is being treated.
“We did not violate our permit, avoided a spill of partially treated wastewater and maintained disinfection the entire time since the water was contained in the tunnels— we pumped it back to the process once we were able,” Child said. “I must commend the SBSA operations and maintenance staff. They have worked many, many hours to control the situation and return the processes to normal. They have done a fantastic job and I have rarely seen dedication and teamwork as has been displayed by these outstanding people.”
Contact: Daniel T. Child, SBSA General Manager
(650) 591-7121
dchild@sbsa.org