Spring 2006
No More Washouts!! OVSD Completes Storm-Damaged Sewer Line Replacement
Rate Increase
OVSD Wins Prestigious Award
Green Up - Free Biosolids Compost available From OVSD Wastewater Treatment Plant
F.O.G. Program Under Way to Prevent
Did You Know? OVSD Reaches Out to Educate The Community
A Tale Of Two Neighborhoods
Attention: Put a Stop to Illegal Sewer Line Connections
OVSD Inspection of Sewer System Protects Our Environment
No More Washouts!!
OVSD Completes Storm-Damaged Sewer Line Replacement
On January, 2005, torrential rains and flooding washed out a section of the Ojai Valley Sanitary District (OVSD) sewer line along San Antonio Creek at the end of Old Creek Road. A little over a year later, the District has completed permanent repairs with the installation of two side-by-side 1,800-foot sections of sewer line. "There will be no more washouts here again," as one OVSD official put it.
"This is about protecting our environment," said John K. Correa, P.E., General Manager of the District. "We're very pleased that we have the advanced technology that enables us to put our pipelines deep underneath the waterways so they don't get washed out and have the resulting sewage spills and environmental damage."
FEMA is funding three-quarters of the approximate $2.5 million total cost. The State of California is paying the remaining quarter.
The new sewer pipes are inverted siphon lines, which go down into the ground to a depth of 150 feet and back up again at the other end. The siphons were installed by horizontal directional drilling, using a large steer-able drill guided by electronics. The crew drilled two parallel bore holes 1,600 feet in length and then pulled the new polyethylene pipes (50-foot lengths previously fused together) through each bore hole.
One pipeline has an inside diameter of 10 inches with walls one-and-three- quarter inches thick, while the second line has an inside diameter of 16 inches with walls two-and-one-half inches thick. The purpose of having two pipes is to have one pipe handle the average daily sewage flow, and the second line provides additional capacity in times of peak flows. If a clog or slowdown occurs in one pipe, the second pipe is there to handle the flow.
The new siphon line is similar to the one that the OVSD completed in June, 2004 in the Ventura River at Highway 150 (Baldwin Road) using the same horizontal directional drilling technology. The Ventura River project was a preventive measure to avoid spills in the river and impacts to the environment.
The District came up with a way to save time and money on the San Antonio Creek project. The District learned early on that polyethylene pipe would likely become unavailable later in the year because of manufacturing delays due to Hurricane Katrina. Normally, the contractor purchases the pipe, but in this case, the District purchased the pipe directly and it was on-site when the contractor needed it. "We locked in the delivery and the price," said Correa. "We saved a lot of time and money doing that."
OVSD's Project Manager for the storm damage repair was Ron Sheets, Operations Superintendent, and inspection was performed by Jim Stallings, Senior Construction Inspector.
Boyle Engineering, Ventura, performed the engineering and design and served as engineering administrative project managers.
True Environmental, specializing in horizontal directional drilling work, was OVSD's consultant during the planning and design phases, and performed construction inspections as the project was under way. Fugro West, Inc. provided the geotechnical investigation of the area prior to drilling. In a project of this type, it is essential that the potential contractors know the nature of the ground in order to effectively bid on it. Kinnan Engineering of Camas Valley Oregon, was the contractor, which performed the directional drilling and pulling of the pipe as well as related structures and conventionally installed pipeline.
When the sewer line washed out in January, 2005, District officials immediately took action to deal with the emergency. In just eight days, crews had installed an emergency pump station and a 7,000-plus foot pipeline bypassing the pipe break and running along Creek Road and down Highway 33, reconnecting to the existing line at the bottom of the Arnaz grade. While this temporary pump station and bypass line were in operation, crews built a temporary gravity line back through the area that was washed out. This temporary gravity line was then in operation until completion of the new siphon line in March, 2006. The new installation is now in full operation. (See "Award" on first page.)
To balance its operating budget and protect its reserves which are critical to maintaining District facilities and to meeting emergency needs as they arise—the Ojai Valley Sanitary District proposes to increase sewer rates by about 8 percent for 2006-2007.
Two years ago, the OVSD Board of Directors developed a multi-year plan to balance the District's budget. Rate increases were necessary to meet the budget-balancing goal. Factors contributing to the need for a rate increase are:
- New State and Federal regulations with which the District must comply, including dealing more aggressively with infiltration and inflow.
- Contribution to the District's facilities
replacement reserve fund. - A proposed 25 percent increase in electrical rates, amounting to as much as $100,000.
- Raising manholes due to planned County road resurfacing projects.
- Growth in the Ojai Valley is relatively static. The low population growth means that current ratepayers pay for all the increasing regulatory and operating expenses incurred.
Recognizing the efficiency and quick completion of the San Antonio Creek sewer line reconstruction, the American Public Works Association has conferred its Emergency Project of the Year Award for 2005 on the Ojai Valley Sanitary District.
Green Up - Free Biosolids Compost available From OVSD Wastewater Treatment Plant
Jerry Revard, Parks Super-intendant with the City of Ventura, says he gets great results in his yard from using compost which is available at no cost to the public at the Ojai Valley Sanitary District's Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Mr. Revard uses the compost as a mulch for his fruit trees, blackberry vines, and vegetable area and as a top dressing for his lawn.
"This is just a terrific source of organic nitrogen," says Mr. Revard. "Being organic, you get a slow release of nitrogen over a longer period of time. When you use a chemical fertilizer, it's gone pretty fast."
Chuck Bennett brought a truckload of compost home from the Treatment Plant and tilled it into a hill behind his home as a soil amendment. He planted flower seeds and soon had a hillside full of blooms.
"This stuff is rich," says Mr. Bennett. "I can't compliment it enough. I think composting is a great service to the community. It's a win-win situation."
The compost is 50 percent biosolids and horse bedding from local stables. The materials are combined and composted in windrows adjacent to the Treatment Plant. The material heats up to temperatures which stabilize the organic material. Using temperature probes, Plant personnel make sure the compost is maintained at temperature for an adequate amount of time to ensure that stabilization is complete. Regular testing assures that OVSD compost meets the Environmental Protection Agency's "Class A Exceptional Quality" standards for biosolids.
Bring your own container, or
fill a truckload at the District's Wastewater Treatment Plant
6363 N. Ventura Avenue,
Supplies won't last, to ensure
availability, which is highest in
summer through late fall:
Call (805) 646-5548
F.O.G. Program Under Way to Prevent
Excess fats in human blood can accumulate along the walls of arteries, eventually forming a blockage that causes a heart attack. Essentially the same process occurs when fats, oils and greases from cooking are poured down the drain. Only in this case, the clogging can result in sewage backups into homes, businesses, or a sewage spill into our environment. Restaurants are a major source of fats, oil and grease discharged into our sewers.
Established last year as a part of its pretreatment efforts, the Ojai Valley Sanitary District's Fats, Oils and Greases (FOG) Program, is making headway in educating local restaurant management and personnel about the grease problem and securing their cooperation.
Directed by OVSD Operations Superintendent Ron Sheets, the FOG Program issues permits to food service establishments (FSE's), primarily restaurants, but also markets and other establishments that handle food, to implement Best Management Practices (grease handling), and regular maintenance of grease removal devices to reduce the amount of grease entering the sewer system. It is important to note that homes and businesses can also contribute significant amounts of fats, oils and grease, and should use Best Management Practices as well.
The FOG program for restaurants and other FSE's is incentive-based. There is no across-the-board permit fee, and the term of the permit is five years. Unless the District discovers grease accumulation problems, the restaurant will not be charged "permit" fees. However, if a restaurant is not managing its grease properly and it allows grease down the drain in sufficient quantity to cause problems, the District has the legal authority to bill the restaurant for District staff time devoted to correcting the problem and to require the installation of a grease reduction control device (grease interceptor or trap).
"I feel that the program is tremendously successful in that it allows the restaurant to have control over the degree of oversight or interaction they have with the District staff as well as any potential fees they may pay," says Sally Coleman, the District representative who visits the various restaurants.
"Restaurant managers and owners are receptive. They do not want to have spills or pay to have a blockage cleared in their lateral line. When a spill occurs in their lateral, they are required by environmental and health regulations to close the restaurant until the blockage is cleared and the spill has been cleaned up."
For more information, call the District office at 646-5548.
Did You Know? OVSD Reaches Out to Educate The Community
Are you aware of the advanced technologies and proactive approaches employed by the Ojai Valley Sanitary District to protect our environment 24/7? Do you know what simple steps you can take to do your part?
To educate Ojai Valley residents on these issues, OVSD is stepping up its community outreach campaign.
For the first time, OSVD participated as a sponsor of the Ojai Garden Tour in May. The District hosted a display and provided free educational literature at the City Demonstration Garden, the first stop on the Tour.
OVSD also will continue its tradition of participating in Ojai Day, this year scheduled for October 21, with a booth in Libbey Park.
OVSD is always looking for community events in which they can participate to promote public education and environmental awareness on how the Sanitary District's activities protect our community and water quality environment. If you have suggestions, please give us a call at 646-5548.
Seventeen residents of a lower Arbolada neighborhood and ten residents of Casitas Springs were beset with the same problem - failing septic systems. But now, none of these people need worry about malfunctioning septic systems ever again. All are hooked up to the Ojai Valley Sanitary District (OVSD) sewer lines.
In each case, the Ojai Valley Sanitary District was there to help with the transition; but in much different ways at each location.
Faced with failing septic systems, Casitas Springs residents approached the Sanitary District seeking a solution. The District proposed a way to make the project feasible for neighborhood residents. The cost of installing the new sewer lines would be shared by participating residents. The District would finance each property owner's share over a 15-year period at low interest, collecting payments semi-annually on property tax bills.
The Casitas Springs project consisted of installing new sewer lines beneath Edison and Sycamore Drives. The project was managed in its entirety by the Ojai Valley Sanitary District, which hired the engineer and the contractor and supervised all the work from planning to completion.
Local property owner Chuck Bennett and others went around the neighborhood knocking on doors and eventually organized a group of ten neighbors who opted in to the project.
"My compliments to the Ojai Valley Sanitary District," says Mr. Bennett. "Throughout the whole process, the staff was nothing but helpful."
In the El Paseo neighborhood of the lower Arbolada near the lower campus of Ojai Valley School, neighbors got together and formed the Lower Arbolada Sewer Association, which hired its own engineer and contractor. All 17 residents funded the Lower Arbolada Sewer Association project. New sewer lines were installed beneath three streets: El Paseo, Sierra and Cuyama.
The effort was spearheaded by Neva Williams Brad-igan, who had the right skills and experience at the right time. Ms. Bradigan is a professional construction project manager who has a number of major projects to her credit in the Ojai Valley.
"I came forward as a volunteer because it was so important to me to do the right thing environmentally," says Ms. Bradigan. "I must say that once we decided where the lines would be drawn, the Ojai Valley Sanitary District was extremely helpful in inspecting and being flexible," she says. "Jim Stallings (OVSD Senior Construction Inspector) was a key person, overseeing the project and making sure that things were going on track."
DID YOU KNOW...
We recycle 800 million gallons of water annually
Attention: Put a Stop to Illegal Sewer Line Connections
Ojai Valley Sanitary District ratepayers are unknowingly subsidizing property owners in the Ojai Valley who have illegal sewer connections. There are many property owners who are not paying their fair share, which contributes to increasing everyone's rates.
The problem typically arises when structures at the rear of properties—such as garages or pool houses—are converted into separate residences, usually as rental units for added income. The property owner pays for only the one sewer connection to their main house, when they should be paying for the connection and service fees for the second residence as well.
District officials are concerned about this issue, are investigating it, and are asking for your help.
If you are aware of any situations that should be checked, please contact us anonymously at 646-5548.
OVSD Inspection of Sewer System Protects Our Environment
In its effort to protect the environment, the Ojai Valley Sanitary District is on the lookout for infiltration and inflow (I&I) into the sewer system.
Infiltration is the process of rainwater leaking into buried sewer pipes. Inflow is rainwater flowing directly into sewer pipes. I&I from rainwater and groundwater can cause the system's capacity to be exceeded. In such a case, sewage spills can occur.
To identify the sources of I&I, the District has several measures in place:
- Flow monitors positioned at many locations throughout the sewer system to detect abnormally heavy flows.
- Smoke testing, one of the most effective ways to find leaks, is used to detect I&I at various locations.
- Inspection of sewer pipes using video cameras goes on year-round.
John Correa, OVSD General Manager, advises the public to be aware of the sources of inflow, which occur when downspouts or other drainage lines are illegally hooked up to sewer lines. He points out that in California, unlike many other states, sanitary sewer lines are separate from storm drains. Rainwater belongs in storm drains, not in the sewer lines. However, some residents are not aware of this and divert storm water into the sewers, potentially causing sewage overflows.
DID YOU KNOW...
When it rains we get up to 10 million gallons a day of rain coming into our sanitary sewers.
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