The council was accompanied by their consultant, Bob Godwin, from Lee & Ro, a wastewater consulting firm based in Sacramento. At the Jackson Wastewater Treatment Plant, Public Works Superintendent Terry Watson led the council through the plant and gave a detailed overview of how the city processes their wastewater. Watson, a 32-year veteran with the city, along with two other operators, keeps a close eye on the plant, which is a typical “racetrack” system comprised of oxidation ditches, and a complex system of equipment that runs the plant. Additionally, the plant houses a lab where operators can process “in-plant” water testing. “We sometimes need to know the same day whether or not we have any high levels (of anything),” says Watson. At the in-house lab, operators test for volatility and suspended solids, pH, and turbidity. The plant also monitors the flow of water in Jackson Creek. About 500,000 gallons of water flow through the city of Jackson every day in the summer, with about “double that amount” in the winter, says Watson. Ione’s next step is to finalize the project description for the EIR, and Kerr hopes to have a Draft EIR out soon.
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In an effort to plan for the future, Ione City Council members toured
Galt and Jackson’s
water treatment plants Monday. According to Ione City Manager Kim Kerr, the
city discovered that the capacity of their two treatment plants could only
handle about 700 new homes, whereas capacity is needed for about 1200. When the city decided to expand their current
sewer treatment plant, a lawsuit was filed by a landowner adjacent to the
plant, the outcome of which mandated the preparation of an Environmental Impact
Report, or EIR, on any future work done at the plant. As part of that process, the city decided to
tour several nearby cities’ treatment plants, including Jackson, Galt, and Valley Springs, the latter
of which had to cancel. Kerr
said she felt that the plant tours would help the council get “a good
visualization” of how a treatment plant works, and “what the potential
footprint would be” in expanding their own plant. “It gives us more factors as
we go forward,” says Kerr.
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