HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/15/2009 - STAFF REPORTS - 2.Q. ppLM Sn
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Q`1FOP. City Council Staff Report
Date: JULY 15, 2009 CONSENT CALENDAR
Subject: APPROVAL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS SANITARY SEWER
SYSTEM MANAGEMENT PLAN
From: David H. Ready, City Manager
Initiated by: Public Works and Engineering Department
SUMMARY
On May 2, 2006, the California State Water Resources Control Board adopted Order
No. 2006-0003-DWQ implementing state wide regulations related to the operation and
maintenance of sanitary sewer systems. Approval of the City of Palm Springs Sanitary
Sewer System Management Plan is a final step necessary to comply with the state's
Order.
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the City of Palm Springs Sanitary Sewer Management Plan, including its
elements consisting of the Sanitary Sewer Collection System Emergency Response
Plan, the Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) Control Program, and the Sanitary Sewer
Master Plan (February 2009), in compliance with the Statewide General Waste
Discharge Requirements for Sanitary Sewer Systems, State Water Resources
Control Board Order No. 2006-0003-DWQ.
STAFF ANALYSIS:
On May 2, 2006, the California State Water Resources Control Beard ("State Board")
adopted Order No. 2006-0003-DWQ ("the Order") implementing state wide regulations
related to the operation and maintenance of sanitary sewer systems. The State Board
was created by the Legislature in 1967. The joint authority of water allocation and water
quality protection enables the State Board to provide comprehensive protection for
California's waters. The State Board oversees and administers regulations related to
groundwater, storm water, wastewater, water recycling, and other related issues.
In April 2004, the State Board began to investigate potential solutions to reduce both the
numbers and volume of Sanitary Sewer Overflows ("SSOs") that occur throughout the
state, often impacting human health and the environment. The most noticeable impact
ITEM NO,
City Council Staff Report
July 15, 2009- Page 2
City of Palm Springs Sanitary Sewer System Management Plan
of SSOs is the closure of public beaches due to sewage spills. With the aging of the
sanitary sewer systems within the state, and varying levels of effort and funding to
manage those sanitary sewer systems, the State Board believed the frequency of SSOs
would increase unless the State Board took formal action to implement regulations
regarding SSOs state wide.
The state is divided into nine regions administered by Regional Boards who receive
general administration and regulations from the Board. The Coachella Valley is located
in the Colorado River Basin Region, and is locally regulated by that Regional Board.
The State Board found that some of the Regional Boards had enacted region-wide
regulations regarding SSOs, while some regions lacked any oversight. The Colorado
River Basin Region was one region that had not yet reacted to the issue of SSOs on
water quality. Therefore, the State Board took the initiative to develop and enact state
wide regulations to prevent the occurrence of SSOs. These regulations apply to all
Federal and state agencies, municipalities, counties, districts, and other public entities
that own or operate sanitary sewer systems greater than one mile in length that collect
and/or convey untreated or partially treated wastewater to a publicly owned treatment
facility in the State of California.
The State Board found that major causes of SSOs include: grease blockages, root
blockages, sewer line flood damage, manhole structure failures, vandalism, pump
station mechanical failures, power outages, excessive storm or ground water
inflow/infiltration, debris blockages, sanitary sewer system age and construction
material failures, lack of proper operation and maintenance, insufficient capacity and
contractor-caused damages. Many SSOs are preventable with adequate and
appropriate facilities, source control measures and operation and maintenance of the
sanitary sewer system.
As a result, the State Board determined that to facilitate proper funding and
management of sanitary sewer systems, each system operator must develop and
implement a system-specific Sewer System Management Plan ("SSMP"). The final
SSMP is required to be adopted by the City Council prior to August 1, 2009. To be
effective, SSMPs must include provisions to provide proper and efficient management,
operation, and maintenance of sanitary sewer systems, while taking into consideration
risk management and cost benefit analysis. Additionally, an SSMP must contain a spill
response plan that establishes standard procedures for immediate response to an SSO
in a manner designed to minimize water quality impacts and potential nuisance
conditions.
The City's sanitary sewer system is composed of approximately 250 miles of clay,
gravity flow, 6"-42" diameter collection lines, approximately 5,000 pre-cast concrete and
brick manholes; and five sewer lift stations. Therefore, the Order adopted by the State
Board applies directly to the City's sanitary sewer collection system. Given that the
City's sanitary sewer collection system is operated and maintained by Veolia Water
North America —West, LLC ("Veolia") under a long-term contract, City staff coordinated
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City Council Staff Report
July 15, 2009- Page 3
City of Palm Springs Sanitary Sewer System Management Plan
with Veolia to ensure the City complied with the Order, and that the required SSMP was
prepared in accordance with the regulations.
Veolia subsequently prepared a SSMP under the City's guidance, which includes the
following goals for the operation and maintenance of its sanitary sewer system:
• Minimize SSOs;
• Prevent public health hazards;
• Minimize inconveniences by responsibly handling interruptions in services;
• Protect the large investment in collection system assets by maintaining adequate
capacities and extending useful life;
• Prevent unnecessary damage to public and private property;
• Use available funds in the most efficient manner;
• Convey wastewater with a minimum of infiltration, inflow and exfiltration;
• Ensure adequate capacity to convey peak flows; and
• Perform all operations in a safe manner to avoid personal injury and property
damage.
The SSMP consists of the following documents:
• Sanitary Sewer Collection System Emergency Response Plan;
• Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) Control Program; and
• Sanitary Sewer Master Plan, February 2009
Sanitary Sewer Collection System Emergency Response Plan
The overall purpose of this Plan is to identify measures to protect public health and the
environment from SSOs. A SSO is any overflow, spill, release, discharge or diversion
of untreated or partially treated wastewater from a sanitary sewer system (any system
of pipes, pump stations, sewer lines, or other conveyances, upstream of a wastewater
treatment plant headworks used to collect and convey wastewater to the publicly owned
treatment facility). Sanitary sewer systems include only those systems owned by public
agencies.
The Plan includes the following:
• Proper notification procedures;
• A program to ensure an appropriate response to all SSOs;
• Procedures to ensure prompt notification to appropriate regulatory agencies and
other potentially affected entities;
• Procedures to ensure that appropriate staff and contractor personnel are aware of
and follow the Plan and are appropriately trained,
• Procedures to address emergency operations; and
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City Council Staff Report
July 15, 2009 - Page 4
City of Palm Springs Sanitary Sewer System Management Plan
A program to ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to contain and prevent the
discharge of untreated and partially treated wastewater to waters of the United
States.
The Emergency Response Plan is included as Appendix "E" to the SSMP.
Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) Control Program
Veolia reviewed the City's sanitary sewer system, and the history of SSOs that have
occurred in the City, and found that the most frequent cause of SSOs was the result of
grease accumulation in the sewer line. This was typically the case in the higher density
commercial areas downtown, where multiple Food Service Establishments ("FSEs")
were located. As the State Board deliberated on its state wide SSO regulations
between 2005-2006, Veolia and City staff proactively researched and developed local
regulations to prevent SSOs occurring due to grease accumulations generated by FSEs
in the City. On March 1, 2006, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1682 amending
Chapter 1528 of the Palm Springs Municipal Code relating to sewer use regulations,
which enacted new source control regulations for FSEs to prevent Fats, Oils and
Grease ("FOG") from entering the City's sanitary sewer system.
Since adoption of the City's FOG regulations, Veolia has inventoried over 200 FSEs
within the City, and has imposed (in accordance with the FOG regulations) annual
inspections of the FSEs' grease interceptor and/or grease trap, varying from once to
twelve times per year. The FOG regulations are a critical element of the City's SSMP.
FSEs within the City must have grease control devices; however some may not
consistently maintain and service them. As a result, the City must perform additional
preventive maintenance on sewer segments that service these facilities. For example,
the City must respond to and clear blockages and clean up SSOs caused by improper
FOG disposal practices and poor grease control device maintenance. Additionally,
odors often result from poorly maintained grease control devices. Odors may generate
complaints from the public and also require immediate response by the City's collection
system crews.
The purpose of the FOG Control Program is to facilitate the maximum beneficial public
use of the City's sanitary sewer collection system while preventing blockages of sewer
segments resulting from discharges of FOG to the system. Additionally, it specifies
appropriate FOG discharge requirements for FSEs discharging into the City's sewer
system in order to protect the public health and safety, and the environment. This
program applies to the direct or indirect discharge of all wastewater containing FOG into
the City's sanitary sewer collection system.
The Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) Control Program is included as Appendix "F" to the
SSMP.
City Council Staff Report
July 15, 2009- Page 5
City of Palm Springs Sanitary Sewer System Management Plan
Sanitary Sewer Master Plan, February 2009
The objectives of the Sanitary Sewer Master Plan ("Master Plan") for the City of Palm
Springs are to assess the current public sewerage system in the City and address the
City's future sewerage capacity requirements. The Master Plan is comprised of the
following items:
• Data Collection and Review
• Sewer System Inventory and Digitization
• Sewer System Description
• Land Use Analysis
• Measurement of Existing Flows
• Sewer Collection and Pumping System Analysis
• Sewer Master Plan Document Preparation
Through the master planning process, hydraulic, and operation needs are defined. The
objective of this study is to recommend corrective programs and projects for the City's
existing public sewerage system to be used in its yearly Capital Improvement Plan
(CIP).
The Primary goal of the Master Plan is to update the 1993 Sewer Master Plan prepared
by Montgomery Watson and to provide a long term foundation for building and
maintaining the City's sanitary sewer system and to safely collect and transfer all
wastewater flows throughout the City. The Master Plan collected real-time data of the
current Average Wastewater Flow ("AWF") contributed by residential, commercial,
industrial, and institutional users to the City's sanitary sewer system measured during
the weekend of April 19th and 20th, 2008- AWF was measured at 15 different locations
throughout the City, where combined sewer flows from contributory areas could be
quantified. The results of the flow meter study reveal that the City's sanitary sewer
system predominantly operates with very low flows. For example, one location
measured an AWF of 450,000 gallons per day in an 18" diameter sewer line, resulting in
an average depth of flow of 2". Other locations measured similar low flows in relation to
the size of the sewer line, including the largest sewer line of 39" diameter with an AWF
of 5,500,000 gallons per day resulting in an average depth of flow of 13".
What does this indicate about the City's sewer system?
The 1993 Sewer Master Plan prepared by Montgomery Watson estimated that at City
build-out, anticipated 20 years later, sewage flows of 1938. million gallons per day
("mgd"), well above the treatment plant's capacity of 10.9 mgd. Therefore, the 1993
Sewer Master Plan recommended that the City consider plans to expand the
wastewater treatment plant to accommodate the expected flow. However, the Master
Plan update has shown that sewage flows estimated in 1993 have not been realized,
and in fact, over the last 10 years sewage flows have actually decreased while at the
same time the number of connections to the sanitary sewer system has dramatically
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City Council Staff Report
July 15, 2009 - Page 6
City of Palm Springs Sanitary Sewer System Management Plan
increased. Staff have consulted with other treatment plant operators, and has learned
that other areas have seen a decrease in the sewage flow being treated, despite
significant development occurring over the same time frame. The theory is that the
increased use of water saving devices (Le. energy star appliances, low-flow toilets,
water efficient shower heads, etc.) has now shown results in the volume of sewage flow
passed through the sanitary sewer system.
The Master Plan provides an evaluation of the adequacy of the City's existing sanitary
sewer system's capacity for transporting both current and future wastewater flows.
Information for the planning and implementation for improving the City's sanitary sewer
system, and the recommendations associated costs, have been incorporated within a
Capital Improvement Plan ("CIP"). Given the fact that the system has more than
adequate capacity, including the treatment plant, the only sections of the sanitary sewer
system identified for replacement have severely flat profiles which has limited their
capacity to carry sewage flow. These sections are identified as:
• Indian Canyon Drive, from Baristo Road to Ramon Road (estimated cost to upsize
sewer lines: $2.4 Million)
• Palm Canyon Drive and Indian Canyon Drive, from Amado Road to Merito Place
(estimated cost to upsize sewer lines: $1.8 Million)
These two capital projects will be included in the 20 year CIP for the wastewater fund,
currently being drafted for City Council review.
Summary
Veolia, in consultation with City staff, have prepared the necessary formal reports
required by the State Board, consistent with the Order regulating SSOs. Staff
recommends that the City Council approve the City of Palm Springs Sanitary Sewer
Management Plan and its elements, as conforming to Statewide General Waste
Discharge Requirements for Sanitary Sewer Systems, State Water Resources Control
Board Order No. 2006-0003-DWQ.
A full copy of the Sanitary Sewer Management Plan and its elements is on file with the
City Clerk, and is available for review on-line at the Department of Public Works and
Engineering webpage.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Ongoing operation and maintenance costs, currently included in the Veolia contract.
City Council Staff Report
July 15, 2009- Page 7
City of Palm Springs Sanitary Sewer System Management Plan
Submitted:
David J. Barakian Thomas J. Wilson
Director of Public Works/City Engineer Assistant City Manager
David H. Ready `
City Manager
Attachments:
1. City of Palm Springs Sanitary Sewer Management Plan, on file with the City Clerk
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