Silicon Valley Clean Water (SVCW) celebrated a major milestone of the $495 million Regional Environmental Sewer Conveyance Upgrade (RESCU) Program this past week.

They invited local officials from the West Bay Sanitary District, United States Environmental Protection Agency and the cities of Belmont, Redwood City and San Carlos to gain a firsthand look at the 16-foot diameter Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) before it begins two years of work underground. They also announced the new name of the TBM—Salus—and recognized naming contest winner Rick Einsiedl, a resident of Redwood City.

The TBM technology—an awesome sight with its  16-foot diameter, 650-foot length with all the support elements, and a weight of 900 tons-- has been used all over the world for mountain and underwater tunnels, pipelines and transit lines, and has been used to build San Francisco’s Central subway. The TBM is one element of the RESCU Program to support the safety and reliability of the community’s wastewater system. One of the goals of SVCW’s RESCU Program is to protect the San Francisco Bay through rehabilitating and constructing new facilities that enhance the future of the Peninsula’s wastewater system, while managing increasing wastewater flows of up to 108 million gallons per day (MGD) during wet weather.

SVCW’s RESCU Program seeks to protect the San Francisco Bay through rehabilitating and constructing new facilities that enhance the future of the Peninsula’s wastewater system, while managing increasing wastewater flows of up to 108 million gallons per day (MGD) during wet weather.

For the full news release, go  here .

To help keep drinking water safe, the Environmental Protection Agency will prohibit healthcare facilities from flushing pharmaceuticals down the toilet or sink drain effective August 21, 2019. This prevents what the EPA calls “sewering” of pharmaceutical waste, which can be a hazardous contributor to water pollution and ecological degradation.

 

SVCW encourages all residents and businesses to do the same. The list of pharmaceuticals covered by the rule includes, but is not limited to:



To reduce sewer contamination as much as possible, it is recommended that the public flush only the “3 Ps”—Pee, Poop and Paper—down the toilet.

In a joint announcement with officials from SVCW, City of Redwood City and San Mateo County, the United States Environmental Protection Agency marked the closing of a Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan that will help finance the Regional Environmental Sewer Conveyance Upgrade (RESCU) Program. This project is vital to protecting public health and the San Francisco Bay while creating local jobs and reducing project costs. It

The announcement was made during the TBM viewing and naming ceremony this week at the SVCW construction site in Redwood City. The RESCU Program will cost $495 million in capital dollars. The EPA’s WIFIA loan is funding eligible project costs, and capitalized interest, which combined is valued at $517 million. This will save ratepayers over $43 million while helping ensure a healthy community water quality.

 Read more about the RESCU Program here .

The Regional Environmental Sewer Conveyance Upgrade (RESCU) Program will support the safety and reliability of the community’s wastewater system and protect the San Francisco Bay through rehabilitating, re-purposing, and constructing new facilities. One of the RESCU program projects is the Front of Plant project, which consists of the design and construction of the Receiving Lift Station, Headworks Facility, Odor Control Facilities, Influent Connector Pipe, Civil site work, Emergency Overflow pipe to storage basin and related process support systems. Work is being implemented in stages under a Progressive Design-Build procurement process.

Excavation of the Receiving Lift Station/ Surge tower Flow/splitter Structure shafts at Silicon Valley Clean Water’s Front of Plant project has commenced early August and will take three months to complete. This new facility ensures the safety and resilience of Silicon Valley Clean Water’s operations, and the structure will be constructed on SVCW property at 1400 Radio Road as part of the SVCW RESCU Program.

 

Front of Plant project construction is planned through 2022.

For more details about this project, go here . 

SVCW is procuring Virtual Reality technology (VR) equipment to allow Operations and Maintenance staff to virtually walk through the final design of the Front of Plant headworks facility before major construction begins. The VR model will show the positions of accurate renderings of equipment and piping details in a virtual environment.

 

For more about SVCW’s use of Virtual Reality technologies, go here .