On October 15 SVCW staff participated in the 2020 Great California Shakeout Earthquake Drill to Drop, Cover, and Hold On. This important event, which corresponds with the ShakeOut, helps us prepare to keep staff safe and do what we can to ensure our community remains able to dispose of wastewater in a safe and environmentally responsible manner in an earthquake. SVCW's highest priority is safety for our workforce and community, so we
celebrate this annual event like a holiday. Our Health and Safety Director gave notification at 10:15 a.m., offering the opportunity for everyone to participate in the drill whether working remotely in our homes or onsite at the treatment plant. The more we practice with safety drills we can embed it into our muscle memory. We do this because we want to maintain our record of over 660 days without a safety incident!
Like many of you who grew up in San Francisco, I recall the fall months having an intangible quality to the atmosphere that we described as “earthquake weather," and of course that horrible October day in 1989 when the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred. Since then we have all felt small tremors from time to time, and it's important that we continue to get ready for the inevitable bigger ones. Even if you missed the Great California ShakeOut, it's never too late to practice what to do at your homes and offices in the case of an earthquake. Learn how to practice here.
Tied intrinsically to our safety mission of protecting public health and the environment is complying with the permit requirements under which we function. Our workforce meets these priorities day in and day out, ably and effectively. Sometimes emergency situations or treatment process upsets arise at the treatment plant and our operations and maintenance staff need to respond swiftly and confidently to alleviate the issue. These types of situations occur every now and again, and we are proud that none have resulted in a permit violation. This is a strong testimony to the professionalism and expertise of our workforce.
As we begin to wrap up 2020, our goal in the new year is to continue maintaining the highest standards in pursuit of safety and permit compliance and provide even more transparency in what we do. As part of that, I'm pleased we are getting ready to launch a new website that will share more content on what we do and provide more services 24/7 to our customers. I encourage you to read on below!
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SVCW's New Website
Launches December 1
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SVCW is excited to launch its new, more user-friendly and attractive website on December 1.
The completely revamped site will feature more intuitive navigation and search capability, including an accessibility widget to become ADA compliant. It will also feature engaging professional photography and content to educate readers about what we do and inspire support of sustainability programs. A Hot Topics page will keep everyone in the know about the latest news and innovations at SVCW.
Guests will be able to apply for permits online, submit requests for proposal and job applications 24/7, making these processes more convenient for customers and enable staff to respond more efficiently.
Check out the new website on December 1 here. |
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Celebrating Gratitude in November |
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When we endure difficult times, such as a global pandemic, we at SVCW believe it's important to focus as much as possible on what we are grateful for.
With Thanksgiving coming, November is the perfect time to officially celebrate what we are grateful for--such as our outstanding safety and permit compliance record in a challenging year. We couldn't have made that happen without the commitment and focus of our incredible staff, to whom we say a heartfelt thank you. We also thank our friends and neighbors who work in public safety throughout our community, from police to firefighters.
In honor of National Veterans and Military Families Month, we also want to express our gratitude to the people who keep us safe on an even greater level--our veterans, as well as their loved ones who sacrifice so much in support of our nation’s heroes.
Wishing you all a November filled with gratitude for what we have--a supportive community and network of family and friends.
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Every month SVCW shares an insider's glimpse behind the scenes into cool, innovative technologies and processes we're using that are transforming the water treatment industry. |
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For our first installment of "How It Works...," we're highlighting our Fournier Presses, which have truly revolutionized our operations.
Also known as Rotary Presses, these machines dewater our biosolids that come out of our anaerobic digesters. They replaced our very outdated centrifuge, which was a mechanical and operational nightmare, and have two primary benefits:
- Their energy use is very low
- They can produce a dewatered “cake” --concentrated dry waste-- with a wide range of percentage of solids (10 to 25%)
Producing cake makes for an easier, and more cost-effective disposal, including reducing transportation costs, which lowers our carbon footprint and advances our sustainability goals.
How do these presses work their magic? First the solids are thickened in our Gravity Belt Thickener, bringing the percentage of solids to about 5%. The thickened solids are fed to the Anaerobic Digesters, and after approximately 28 days, the digested solids are dewatered in the Fournier Presses.
Depending on where the dewatered solids are going, they’re either:
- Dewatered to 8% to 10% solids content, which go to our Solar Drying Beds; or
- Dewatered to 22% to 23% solids content, which go to the BioforceTech Dryers.
Fournier is a Canadian company who approached us years ago with this new technology, and our pilot testing was so successful, and so much more sustainable than our old technology, that we made acquiring them a priority. We recently purchased a second bank of presses that are currently being tested and will soon be part of our operations.
Learn more about other SVCW innovations here.
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We're on track and continuing to make progress on the Regional Environmental Sewer Conveyance Upgrade (RESCU), the rehabilitation and replacement of SVCW's conveyance system. When complete, it will ensure that for many decades to come, SVCW can efficiently, reliably, and safely convey and treat wastewater from its four member agencies. Those include Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, and the West Bay Sanitary District (which serves the cities of Menlo Park, Portola Valley, and portions of Atherton, Woodside, East Palo Alto, and unincorporated areas of San Mateo County). |
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Salus, the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), now on its second drive of mining, is making its way this month towards SVCW's wastewater treatment plant. As of November 16, Salus mined over 3,343 feet and installed 663 rings within the tunnel.
While Salus mines towards the treatment plant, Contractor partner Barnard-Bessac Joint Venture (BBJV) is installing the Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) pipe segments in the section of the tunnel completed between the launch shaft and Inner Bair Island. These pipe segments will form the carrier pipe that will eventually carry raw wastewater to the SVCW treatment plant by gravity.
At the San Carlos Pump Station site, BBJV is installing 69-foot excavation support structures, known as secant piles, which overlap with adjacent piles to form a ring that will allow for excavation of the soil enclosed by the ring. This creates a vertical shaft that stabilizes the surrounding soil and prevents the entry of groundwater. BBJV will use this vertical shaft to build the connecting structure that will allow raw wastewater flows from the Cities of San Carlos and Belmont to enter the gravity pipeline that will carry flows to SVCW's wastewater treatment plant.
For more information about the Gravity Pipeline project, go here.
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Work on the roof deck for the Receiving Lift Station (RLS) shaft continues this month. Shea Parsons Joint Venture (SPJV), our contractor partner, placed concrete for part of the roof deck and aims to complete it by month’s end.
At the Headworks Facility, which plays a crucial role in the pretreatment of the influent wastewater, SPJV installed the 63-inch Interconnection Pipeline (IPL), which allows wastewater to flow from the new Headworks Facility to the existing main treatment plant influent structure. Once it arrives at the treatment plant, debris will be screened, and inorganic grit material removed to ensure smooth operations.
For more information about the Front of Plant project, go here.
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Construction progress at Headworks Facility |
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Pump Station Improvement Project
The Pump Stations Improvement (PSI) project is in the process of transitioning from the design phase to its construction phase. As contractor partner Shea Parsons Joint Venture (SPJV) finishes up the design drawings for multiple parts of the PSI project, it is preparing equipment and material staging areas at the Redwood City Pump Station. Belmont Gravity Pipe mobilization will start January 2021 and the Menlo Park Pump Station mobilization will start spring 2021.
For more information about the Pump Station Improvement project, go here.
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