Project Description - COMPLETE
An NPDES permit is required to return water generated by PID’s backwash and flushing processes into Magalia Reservoir. When the permit was last renewed, the new discharge limits placed on levels of aluminum and dichlorobromomethane meant that the district’s current treatment processes could no longer meet the requirements.
Aluminum comes from a product we use as a coagulant to encourage dirt particles to stick together for better clarification. Dichlorobromomethane is a byproduct of our chlorination prior to filtration. The chlorine reacts with organic material and results in the formation of dichlorobromethane.
Requirements for PID’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit are expected to change; a project to create an improved processing facility was deferred as a result of the financial impacts of the 2018 Camp Fire. The District has successfully worked with the State Regional Board to establish appropriate and acceptable discharge limits.
CURRENT PERMIT EXPIRES MAY 31, 2025
Spending Plan
| Project Phase | Previous Fiscal Year Expenses | Fiscal Year 15/16 | Fiscal Year 16/17 | Fiscal Year 17/18 | Fiscal Year 18/19 | Fiscal Year 19/20 | Total |
| Planning | $749,155 | - | - | $99,556 | - | - | $848,711 |
| Design | - | $896,942 | $418,430 | - | - | - | $1,315,372 |
| Construction | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | $749,155 | $896,942 | $418,430 | $99,556 | - | - | 2,164,083 |
Project Manager
- Bill Taylor
Department: Water Treatment
Funding Source
- Operations
Project Status
CompletePID's board considered these alternatives
Option 1—Recycle the process water with a new treatment system and no longer discharge water—thus eliminating the need for a required NPDES.
Option 2—Work with the state Regional Board to establish appropriate discharge limits that ensure discharged water is not harmful to the environment or to humans and renew the NPDES permit under that new understanding. Additionally, the new NPDES permit will guide the district in planning construction of necessary treatment or recycling facilities.
PID’s board voted to pursue Option 2 and has hired a consultant with successful experience in NPDES review and renewal to assist in this process.
Benefits to PID and its Customers
Option 2 can conceivably save the district and its customers hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction and operating costs.
- pdf June 2012 - Board memo from Treatment Plant Superintendent (50 KB)
- pdf June 2013 - Alternatives Evaluation Report (Draft) (1.31 MB)
- pdf March 2014 - Alternatives Evaluation Report (1.63 MB) (Final)
- pdf March 2014 - Constructed Wetlands Evaluation Report (1.81 MB)
- pdf July 2014 - Life Cycle Cost Analysis (1.84 MB)
- pdf May 2015 - Pilot Study Results (6.48 MB) (Detailed)
- pdf May 2015 - Pilot Study Results (1.34 MB) (Summary)
- pdf February 2016 - Preliminary Design Report (39.07 MB)
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document February 2016 - Regional Water Quality Control Board NPDES Presentation (1.43 MB)
- pdf April 19, 2017 - Board votes to renew NPDES permit (2.76 MB)
- pdf June 21, 2017 - Update on RFP for NPDES permit renewal assistance (568 KB)
- pdf September 20, 2017 - Board authorizes agreement with Waterworks Engineers (2.88 MB)
- pdf January 2018 - NPDES Progress Report (194 KB)
Project details updated October 2020