SARBS Clarifier - CWEAhe City of Riverside has about Problem 258,000 residents in an 87.4 square mile incorporated City limit with 820 miles of sewer lines. The City owns and operates

california Water environment association – cWea

Past President's Message . . . . . . .1 Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Grease Digestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2006 SARBS Awards Banquet . . . . . 2Summer Collections Seminar . . . . . . 3Fishing Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CWEA Awards Luncheon . . . . . . . . 4SARBS-Angels Baseball Game . . . . . . 6Corporate Sponsors . . . . . . . . . . . 6

It’s hard to believe that my term as President is over. A year ago, as I was preparing myself to assume

this office, I looked at the coming months with some trepidation. Being President of such a large organization seemed intimidating. “How can I do this?” I thought; but then, the answer came to me almost immediately: “How can I not .” Yea, it was a little scary, but, as we used to say in the Army: “its good training.” Being afraid of something is the best reason in the world to do it. No man is an island in this organization, and I couldn’t have done it without my fellow Board members.

Good luck to new President Henry Williams and his Board of Directors in the coming year.

A listing of the ‘07/’08 SARBS Board of Directors can be found on the last page of the Clarifier.

SARBS ClarifiervolUme 58 | no. 2 JUne 2007

Santa Ana River Basin Section | California Water Environment Association | www.cwea.org/sarbs

www.cwea.org/sarbs

inside

Past President’s message: By Joe Breiter irvine ranch Water District

UPcoming events

Collections SeminarJuly 19, 2007

SARBS - Angels Baseball GameJuly 27, 2007

3rd Annual Fishing TournamentAugust 11, 2007

LABS/SARBS Dinner Meeting September, 2007 (Date TBA)

23rd Annual Tri-State Seminar on the River

September 27 – 29, 2007

Small Plant of the Year Tour October, 2007 (Date TBA)

WEFTEC/San Diego October 13 -17, 2007

SARBS PDC SeminarNovember 8, 2007

For updates visit the SARBS website at http://cwea.org/sarbs/

city of riverside grease to gas to PoWer anaero-bic digestion of restaU-rant grease intercePtor WasteWaterBy regan Bailey, city of riversiDe

success

The City of Riverside Grease Digestion Project won the CWEA Research Achievement

Award at the Annual Conference in April.

Problem

The City of Riverside has about 258,000 residents in an 87.4 square mile incorporated

City limit with 820 miles of sewer lines. The City owns and operates a POTW with a design capacity of 40 million gallons per day (MGD) and anaerobic digestion processes. The City’s POTW has a cogeneration facility that has the capability of generating about 3 megawatts of power per day. (Continued on page 5)


02 sarBs June 2007 www.cwea.org/sarbs


sarbs 2006 aWards banQUetBy PAuL D . SChMiDTBAuER

On Friday January 19, 2007 SARBS, the largest membership section of the California Water Environment Association (CWEA) held its annual awards banquet at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim, California. SARBS Past President Paul D. Schmidtbauer served as Master of Ceremonies. It was my privilege to introduce SARBS

President Joe Breiter (IRWD) and CWEA President Elect Maura Bonnarens (EBMUD) to give information on what is planed in the future for SARBS and CWEA. After dinner was completed it was my honor to hand out all the awards. The winners of the SARBS 2006 Awards were:

ColleCtion SyStem of the year.suB-committee chair, mark chamBerlin, eastern municipal Water District.

small system – 0-249 miles of pipelines - city of reDlanDs meDium system – 250-500 miles of pipelines - city of fullerton

ColleCtion SyStem PerSon of the yearsuB-committee chair, tom mitchell, elsinore valley municipal Water District.

paul herman – veolia Water north america

engineering aChievement awardsuB-committee chair, pavitra praBhakar, carollo engineers.

irvine ranch Water District/ch2m hill – nanofiltation facility approaching Zero liquiD Discharge

reSearCh aChievement awardsuB-committee chair, pavitra praBhakar, carollo engineers.

city of riversiDe – grease to gas to poWer

P3S PerSon of the yearsuB-committee chair, Deon carrico, orange county sanitation District.

Douglas J. kitchen – city of fullerton

laboratory PerSon of the yearsuB-committee chair, Janet Williams, veolia Water north america.

lori ZaJac – city of reDlanDs

meChaniCal teChniCian PerSon of the yearsuB-committee chair, charley Jackson, city of san BernarDino.

merlin shockley – elsinore valley municipal Water District

oPerator PerSon of the yearsuB-committee chair, richarD Watts, city of riversiDe.

Jeff WooDWarD – orange county sanitation District

Plant of the yearsuB-committee chair, BoB Waters, south orange county WasteWater authority.

meDium plant greater than or equal to 5 mgD – less than or equal to 20 mgD- elsinore valley municipal Water District regional WasteWater reclamation plant.

Plant Safety awardsuB-committee chair, mitch pierson, elsinore valley municipal Water District.

small plant – 1-25 employees- city of reDlanDs WasteWater treatment plant

All of the winners are qualified to compete at the state level. The 2006 CWEA Winners will be announced at the annual conference in Ontario, CA held April 17-20, 2007. Good luck to all of the SARBS winners at the State level.

www.cwea.org/sarbs June 2007 sarBs 03

Presentations Include:• Confined Space Rescue

• Source Control Issues in the Collection System

• Corrosion for Collections

• Heat Illness

• Collections Systems Case Studies by Agencies

• Substance Abuse

• Math, Math, Math

• Vendor Training

Registration Cost Includes Lunch:

$45 – CWEA Members with reservations by July 13

$55 – Without reservations / Non-CWEA Members

$155 - Exhibitor Cost (includes 2 lunches)

Santa Ana River Basin Section (SARBS) of the CWEA presents

COLLECTIONS / MAINTENANCE SEMINAR

REGISTRATION FORM

Thursday, July 19, 2007

7:30 a.m. Check-In / 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Sessions

Location:

Huntington Beach Public Library

7111 Talbert Avenue

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Driving Directions:

405 (North or South)

From the 405, take the Beach Blvd exit south towards Huntington Beach. Travel south on Beach about 2 miles and turn right onto Talbert Ave. Stay in the left lane, and pass Gothard Street. Talbert dead-ends into the Library parking lot. Use the left driveway to enter the parking area.

22 (East or West)

Exit at Beach Blvd and head south towards Huntington Beach. Travel south about 5 miles and turn right onto Talbert Ave. Stay in the left lane, and pass Gothard Street. Talbert dead-ends into the Library parking lot. Use the left driveway to enter the parking area.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, CONTACT:Ralph Palomares, ETWD – (949) 837-7050 x.104Ed Pete rson, ETWD – (949) 837-7050 x. 115

Collections System Seminar Regist ration Form

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Select the appropriate box � and circle status

� Attendee Circle One: CWEA Member ($45) Non-member ($55)

� Exhibitor ($155) Circle One: Table Top Trailer

Name

Agency/Firm:

Address:

Telephone: Fax No.:

Email Address:

Notes:

Make checks payable to SARBS-CWEA and mail with copy of this registration form to:

Ralph Palomares – Registration ; El Toro W.D. ; 24251 Los Alisos Blvd ; Lake Forest, CA 92630

Registration Questions? Contact Ralph Palomares, email: [email protected], phone (949) 837-7050 x.104

CWEA TCP Contact Hours will

be available

Mail form with check payable to SARBS-CWEA

Ralph Palomares

El Toro Water District

24251 Los Alisos Blvd.

Lake Forest, CA 92630



sarbs 2006 aWard Winners sHine at tHe cWea annUal conference in ontario By PAuL D . SChMiDTBAuER

On Friday April 20, 2007 CWEA held its annual awards luncheon at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, California. SARBS, the largest membership section of the CWEA, submitted the names of its annual award winners that were presented at the Friday January 19, 2007 awards banquet that was held at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim, California. In all, SARBS submitted twelve individual

award winners for several different disciplines for the CWEA awards competition. The number of SARBS award winners was the most submitted by any section. This resulted in five State winners making SARBS the top award producing section in the CWEA this year. The winners of the CWEA annual awards from SARBS were:

ColleCtion SyStem of the year. meDium system – 250-500 miles of pipelines

city of fullerton

ColleCtion SyStem PerSon of the year paul herman – veolia Water north america

engineering aChievement award irvine ranch Water District/ch2m hill – nanofiltation facility approaching

Zero liquiD Discharge

reSearCh aChievement award city of riversiDe – grease to gas to poWer

Plant of the yearmeDium plant greater than or equal to 5 mgD – less than or equal to 20 mgD

elsinore valley municipal Water District regional WasteWater reclamation plant

SARBS congratulates all of the above CWEA annual award winners. They are SARBS finest. The next awards cycle begins July 1, 2007. Be sure to get nominations into the Awards Committee to help SARBS recognize its talented membership and to continue to be an active section of the CWEA.

cWea/sarbs board of director’s

2nd annual fishing tournamentaugust 5, 2006 • Prizes will be given out for: The biggest, smallest, and weirdest, and for the person who catches the most fish .• There will be a Children’s Category also so bring all little people .• Remember to bring chairs, water, sunscreen, snacks and food . Bait will be provided by SARBS so bring those Rods and Reels . if you don’t have one you can rent them on the pier .

date: saturday, august 5, 2006time: 9:00 a.m. until noonlocation: Huntington beach Pier

if you have any Questions Call: Ralph Palomares 949-837-7050, ext 104 or e-mail at rpalomares@etwd .com


city of riverside grease digestion (Continued from page 1) This cogeneration facility has three inter-nal combustion engines that use the meth-ane gas produced by the digesters as a fuel source. The City’s Public Utilities Depart-ment also owns its own electric utility and has a requirement from the California Pub-lic Utilities Commission to have 20% of all its electrical energy derived from renewable sources, e.g. wind, solar, and geothermal, by the year 2017. The sewer collection system has experi-enced sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) due to grease discharges from restaurants, more typically from those restaurants that do not have grease interceptors and from those not adequately maintaining their grease interceptors. The restaurant indus-try in the City is in desperate need to have an economically feasible solution to grease interceptor maintenance and wastewater disposal.Problems have arisen with the disposal of the grease interceptor wastewater. Many sanitation agencies are refusing to ac-cept out-of-area grease interceptor waste. Landfills have banned the disposal of grease interceptor wastewater. The down-side of these prohibitions are load mixing with septic tank pumping companies with intent to discharge at a Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW), also called wastewater treatment plants; illegal dispos-al into sewers, storm drains, and remote areas; and disposal into other grease in-terceptors.The prevention of SSOs, the need for a viable and economical disposal option for grease interceptor wastewater, ac-quiring a source of unlimited methane gas production to aid in the cogenera-tion of electricity, developing a renew-able energy source, and achieving ener-gy independence from outside sources of electricity and natural gas prompted discussions to craft potential solutions to the problems.

SolutionThe City researched the use of grease wastewater additions to the anaerobic di-gestion process to increase gas production and discovered this was a viable solution to the problems. On April 27, 2005, the City began the Grease to Gas to Power project. A contract was negotiated with a vacuum truck service to provide the grease wastewa-ter. The company agreed to charge the res-taurants in our City $0.10/gallon to pump the grease interceptors (underground tanks connected to the restaurant wastewater drains). The City charged the company

$0.01/gallon to receive the wastewater. The Grease to Gas to Power project quali-fied for a $16,237 grant for renewable en-ergy resources from the City’s Public Utili-ties Department and the Utilities Board of Directors approved the grant on June 29, 2005. The total costs, to date, in labor, laboratory analyses, and equipment has been approximately $85,000. The project currently receives about 30,000 gallons per day of grease wastewater from restaurants throughout southern California.

OutcomesThe outcomes of the project were phenom-enal. The average increase in methane gas concentration increased from 53.0 % to 67.00% and the average BTU value of the methane increased from 536 to 626. Pure natural gas is 96% methane with a BTU value of 906. The volume per day of meth-ane gas produced in the grease digester in-creased by 133% with a peak of 493,000 cubic feet. The increase in daily methane gas production is enough gas in one day to heat 1,213 homes for one month in Riverside. The electrical power generation of about 1.6 megawatts per day is enough electrical power in one day to provide the electrical needs of 1,203 homes for one month in Riverside. The effects on the sewer system were equally favorable. The sanitary sewer over-flows (SSOs) caused by restaurant grease blockages were reduced from 30% of all calls to less than 1%. The diligent work of

the collection system cleaning crews, Envi-ronmental Compliance Inspectors, the res-taurant business adequately maintaining their grease interceptors, and an economic disposal alternative created by the Grease to as to Power project have all contributed to this successful reduction.One of the goals of this project is to achieve energy independence from natural gas. The project has reduced the natural gas require-ments of the cogeneration power plant by 80%. This yielded a monthly savings from $80,000 to $85,000 per month. The en-ergy costs savings created by this project

have saved the City almost $1,000,000 in one year. An additional benefit of the project was the observed reduction in the amount of bio-solids created from the treatment process. Since the introduction of grease wastewater into the digester, the number of methane forming bacteria has increased dramati-cally. These bacteria are also better adapted to metabolize solid organic material in the digester. As a result of the increased popu-lation, the overall biosolids production has been reduced by about 25%.Since the beginning of the project on April 27, 2005, 48 other cities, agencies, spe-cial districts, universities from across the nation, have either toured the facility or requested information and data to begin their own programs or aid others in the development of programs. On December 5-8, 2006, the project was presented at the National League of Cities City Showcase 2006 in Reno, NV and was reviewed by about 1,000 conference attendees. On January 19, 2007, the project received the Research Achievement Award from the California Water Environment, Santa Ana River Basin Section.

ConclusionsWith a viable alternative for grease waste disposal, the City has provided a valuable service to our restaurant community and generates a much needed gas supply to power the POTW’s cogeneration power station and start on the road to energy in-

dependence.The U.S. E.P.A. has estimated that only 2% of all POTWs in the United States that have digesters use the gas gener-ated to create electricity. This project proves that the use of restaurant grease wastewater can dramatically increase the methane gas output of an anaerobic digester without any serious deleterious affects to a POTW. There are electri-cal generation devices that are designed to operate on digester gas and enable a POTW to have energy independence.

The electrical power potential in this coun-try could be vastly increased and the issue of grease wastewater disposal could be re-solved if POTWs would adopt a grease to gas to power program.The City’s Grease to Gas to Power Pro-gram has demonstrated that success can be achieved through research, partnership, environmental awareness, advanced tech-nology, and innovative reuse and recycling of a problematic waste product. This pro-gram has proven that positive results and cost benefits can be achieved while remain-ing sensitive to the earth’s environment.

bay area Process14365 Meadow DriveGrass Valley, CA 95945Ph: 530 .272 .2298 Fax: 530 .272 .2753



broWn and caldWellirvine: 714 .730 .7600Oxnard: 805 .604 .7890Los Angeles: 310 .309 .4332www .brownandcaldwell .com

black & veatcH15615 Alton Parkway, Suite 300irvine, CA 92618Ph: 949 .753 .0500 Fax: 949 .753 .1252www .bv .com

all american seWer tools

PO Box 16264irvine, CA 92623Ph: 949 .515 .3481 Fax: 949 .642 .7745Ph: 858 .560 .5232 San Diego

california Water tecH8851 Dice RoadSanta Fe Springs, CA 90670Ph: 760 .598 .8936 Fax: 760 .598 .8946www .californiawatertechnologies .com

carmels23781 El Toro RoadLake Forest, CA 92630Ph: 949 .770 .7050

carollo engineers 10540 Talbert Ave ., Suite 200 EastFountain Valley, CA 92708Ph: 714 .593 .5100 Fax: 714 .593 .5101www .carollo .com

bUsH & associates 18017 Sky Park Circle, Suite Q irvine, CA 92614Ph: 949 .752 .1888

cortecH engineering, inc. 1241 N . Lakeview Ave . Ste . TAnaheim, CA 92807Ph: 714 .779 .0911

corporate sponsors

associated laboratories806 North BataviaOrange, Ca 92668Ph: 714 .771 .6900 Fax: 714 .538 .1209www .associatedlabs .com

advanced infrastrUctUre tecHnologies, inc.

19815 hamilton Ave .Torrance, CA 90502Ph: 310 .532 .9050 Fax: 310 .532 .9050

biomagic inc.1030 W17th StreetCosta Mesa, CA 92627Ph: 949 .631 .8845 Fax: 949 .631 .6159www .biomagic .com

sarbs – angels baseball7:05 pm friDay, July 27, 2007

To obtain tickets:

1. Fill out the form below. Tickets are $15 each.2. Make check payable to “SARBS-CWEA”3. Prepare a self-addressed, stamped envelope4. Mail form, check and self-addressed stamped envelope to: 5. Parking fee not included in ticket price.6. Tickets will be mailed to you in the envelope you provide

sarbs – angels baseball Name: ___________________________ _______________________________Tel: _____________________________ E-mail: ___________________________SARBS Member: yes: _______ No: _______

number of tickets:

1 2 3 4 5 6 Circle number of tickets

$15 each = $_______ total

Due to limited number of tickets available, maximum ticket order is six per person . Orders will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis .

SARBS members will have preference .Tickets will be mailed back to you approximately 10 days before game .

Questions? Call Chuck at 949-453-5790

los angeles anaheim angels vs detroit tigers

• group seating Lower View along right field foul line .

• tailgate before game Meet under the “A” at 5:00 PM Details to follow .

• fireworks display After The Game

chuck borkmanc/o irvine ranch Water districtP. o. box 57000irvine, ca 92619-7000

v


Pbs&J 10370 hemet Street, Suite 200Riverside, CA 92506Ph: 951 .358 .1433 Fax: 951 .358 .1434www .pbsj .com

misco 27101 Burbank, Suite BFoothill Ranch, CA 92610Ph: 949 .458 .5555 Fax: 949 .458 .5500 www .miscowater .com

lee & ro, inc. 1199 South Fullerton RoadCity of industry, CA 91748-1232 Ph: 626 .912 .3391 Fax: 626 .912 .2015 www .lee-ro .com

rootX PO Box 7626Salem, OR 97303Ph: 800 .844 .4974 Fax: 503 .485 .5229 www .rootx .com

rotork controls26862 Quevedo LaneMission Viejo, CA 92691Ph: 949 .348 .2913 Fax: 949 .215 .7230 www .rotork .com

e.s. babcock & sons, inc. 6100 Quail Valley Ct .Riverside, CA 92507Ph: 951 .653 .3351 Fax: 951 .653 .1662 www .babcocklabs .com

insitUform tecH, inc.14532 Linden Avenueirvine, CA 92606Ph: 760 .468 .2878 Fax: 949 .654 .4830www .insituform .com

PlUmbers dePot 425 East Buckthorn St .inglewood, CA 90301Ph: 310 .674 .5771 Fax: 310 .674 .5755

golden bell ProdUcts 1200 N . Jefferson, unit MAnaheim, CA 92807Ph: 714 .630 .3861 Fax: 714 .630 .4807www .goldenbellproducts .com

mrc tecHnologies inc. 5225 Frost AvenueCarlsbad, CA 92008Ph: 760 .518 .7231 Fax: 760 .431 .7397www .mrctechnologies .com

tetra tecH, inc 16241 Laguna Canyon Road, Suite 200irvine, CA 92618Ph: 949 .727 .7099 Fax: 949 .727 .7097www .tetratech .com

tHe coombs-HoPkins co 5411 Avenida Encinas, Suite 250Carlsbad, CA 92008Ph: 760 .931 .0555 Fax: 760 .931 .9115www .coombshopkins .com

Water 3 engineering 26111 Antonio ParkwayRancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688Ph: 949 .888 .8597 Fax: 949 .888 .8914www .water3 .com

United Water 740 North Lake StreetBurbank, CA 91502Ph: 818 .972 .1115 Fax: 818 .845 .0718www .unitedwater .com

flo-systems, inc. 3010 Floyd StreetBurbank, CA 91504Ph: 818 .562 .5282 Fax: 818 .842 .3217www .flosystems .com

seWer eQUiPment comPany of america1148 Depot St .Glenview, iL 60025Ph: 847 .729 .3316 Fax: 847 .729 .3547www .sewerequipment .com

dUkes root control inc. 1020 hiawatha Blvd . WestSyracuse, Ny 13204Ph: 315 .472 .4781 Fax: 315 .475 .4203 www .dukes .com

ecis12 Via TorreRancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688Ph: 949 .888 .6536 Cel: 949 .279 .6578

g&g environmental comPliance, inc.5055 Canyon Crest DriveRiverside, CA 92507Ph: 951 .858 .1542 Fax: 951 .924 .2590www .ggcorp .net

Jacobson HelgotH 10838 Old Mill Road, Suite One Omaha, NE 68154 Ph: 402 .697 .0701 Fax: 402 .697 .0702www .jhcinc .com

interested in becoming a corporate sponsor?Contact Tom Roberson, SARBS Corporate Director

Ph: 949-458-5555 E-mail: troberson@miscowater .com

J.r. filanc constrUction 4616 North Ave .Oceanside, CA 92056Ph: 760 .941 .7130 Fax: 760 .941 .3969www .filanc .com

Jamison engineering contractors, inc. 17197 Newhope StreetFountain Valley, CA 92708Ph: 714 .434 .9196 Fax: 714 .434 .3762

s.s. mecHanical17631 Metzler Lanehuntington Beach, CA 92647Ph: 714 .847 .1317 Fax: 714 .847 .6907 www .ssmechanical .biz

sancon 5841 Engineer Dr .huntington Beach, CA 92649Ph: 714 .891 .2323 Fax: 714 .891 .2524www .sancon .com

don robersonconsUlting 26461 Via MarinaMission Viejo, CA 92691Ph: 949 .279 .1797 Fax: 949 .586 .3810

d&d engineering 19355 Business Center Dr . unit 2 Northridge, CA 91324Ph: 818 .772-8720 Fax: 818 .772 .2477www .sensorguys .com

dUdek & associates 529 West BlueRidgeOrange, CA 92865Ph: 714 .998 .8330 Fax: 714 .998 .9027 www .dudek .com

daniel boyle eng.23231 South Point Dr . Ste . 103 Laguna hills, CA 92653Ph: 949 .768 .2600www .dboyle-eng .com

CALiFORNiA WATER ENViRONMENT ASSOCiATiON – CWEASanta Ana River Basin Section – SARBS“The Clarifier”

Membership/Address Changes:

Jaime Aguilarc/o Santa Margarita Water District 26111 Antonio ParkwayLas Flores, CA 92688

sarbs board of directors 2006 – 2007

Please address any questions to the following committee members.

SARBS MISSION STATEMENT

The purpose of this Section is to enhance the education and technology to protect the quality of our water resources and to promote the ecological balance with the environment’s other resources such as land and air.

tHe clarifier

sarbsCalifornia Water Environment Association (CWEA)Santa Ana River Basin Section

membersHiP address cHanges:Jaime aguilarSanta Margarita Water District 26111 Antonio Parkway, Las Flores, CA 92688Phone: 949 .459 .6582e-mail: jaimea@smwd .com

PUblisHed at least 4 times Per year:Membership cost: $12 .00Corporate Advertisers: $30 .00

interim editor: brian Peck

design and ProdUction – Pbs&JSergio Martinez • Media Group • PBS&J

0610

5 | S

M |

07

President:Henry WilliamsRetired (City of Riverside)[email protected]

President-elect:brian PeckSouth Orange County Wastewater [email protected]

vice President:richard WattsCity of [email protected]

treasUrer:berlinda mccadneyCity of [email protected]

secretary:robert barnardEllsinore Valley Municipal Water District951.674.3146 [email protected]

corPorate director:tom [email protected]

second year director:ed PetersonEl Toro Water District949-837-7050 [email protected]

second year director:victor moragaCity of [email protected]

first year director:robert PhillipsElsinore Valley Municipal Water District951.674.3146 x8331 [email protected]

Past President:Joe breiterIrvine Ranch Water [email protected]

Documents

SARBS Clarifier - CWEAhe City of Riverside has about Problem 258,000 residents in an 87.4 square mile incorporated City limit with 820 miles of sewer lines. The City owns and operates