RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - A growing backlog of partially treated wastewater became the biggest issue at the Rancho Murieta Community Services District’s July 14 board meeting after Interim Operations Manager and Chief Plant Operator Travis Bohannon warned the district is racing to eliminate it before the rainy season arrives.

If heavy rains arrive before the backlog is eliminated, partially treated wastewater could spill into the Cosumnes River: a catastrophic scenario for the district.

The district has about 30 million gallons more partially treated wastewater in its storage ponds than it did at the same time last year, Bohannon reported. The water has already undergone primary and secondary treatment, meaning it is no longer raw sewage, but it has not yet received tertiary treatment, the final process that produces reclaimed water suitable for irrigation.

Bohannon said the district is still dealing with the effects of a delayed 2025 conversion of the tertiary treatment plant from chlorine to bleach. The project took about two months longer than expected, leaving the plant out of service while wastewater continued flowing into the storage ponds but no reclaimed water was produced. As a result, the district entered this year’s irrigation season roughly two months behind. He said a mechanical failure in one of the plant’s major pumps this season has prevented the district from making up that lost ground.

The damaged pump experienced mechanical problems after it was placed back into service this season. Although it had operated normally last year, a component failed, reducing its output from about 700 gallons per minute to roughly 520 gallons per minute.

“We are at max capacity on pumping out,” Bohannon told the board. “We’re by no means out of danger.”

Because the district depends on the pump throughout the irrigation season, it cannot be removed for repairs until pumping ends this fall. In the meantime, Bohannon said the district’s mechanic has done everything possible to keep it operating.

“He kind of twisted it a little bit, applied some more tape to the Band-Aid,” Bohannon said, describing the temporary repairs that have kept the pump running at about 75% capacity until it can be pulled from service.

The district uses tertiary-treated reclaimed water to irrigate the Rancho Murieta Country Club, where it is stored in ponds before being used on the golf course. It also disposes of additional reclaimed water through a pipeline to the Van Vleck Ranch across Highway 16 from Rancho Murieta South. At Van Vleck, the water must soak into the ground before additional reclaimed water can be released, limiting how quickly the district can reduce the backlog.

Bohannon warned that the district is also working against the calendar.

The district’s wastewater permit allows tertiary treatment to continue through the end of November unless rainfall arrives first. Once the rainy season begins, the country club no longer needs reclaimed water for irrigation, eliminating the district’s primary disposal outlet.

Coupled with forecasts for a potentially strong El Niño, an early rainy season could significantly shorten the district’s remaining treatment window.

Director Tim Maybee said the district should begin contingency planning immediately rather than waiting until fall and recommended the issue be placed on the agenda for the next Improvements Committee meeting.

“I’d rather have this discussion at that level, and then if we have to finance something, let’s start that process versus we’re in October,” Maybee said. The board agreed the committee should begin evaluating options.

One option discussed was trucking the partially treated wastewater to the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District.

After the meeting, Bohannon said that effort would likely require about 10 tanker truck trips a day, five days a week, moving approximately 50,000 gallons each day, or 250,000 gallons per week. Even at that pace, he said, the district would have to begin hauling immediately and continue through the end of the pumping season just to eliminate the current 30-million-gallon surplus.

“The question is, how soon do we start?” Bohannon said, noting the district must balance the substantial cost of trucking against the risk of waiting too long if early rains curtail the disposal season.

Board President John Merchant also asked Bohannon to determine the cost and availability of replacing the damaged pump rather than simply repairing it. Bohannon cautioned that pumps of that size are specialized equipment that typically are not stocked and could require a significant lead time to obtain.

After the meeting, Merchant said his concern is rooted in experience. He recalled that in 2006 the district released tertiary-treated reclaimed water into the Cosumnes River, violating its discharge permit. 

Although the water had received the highest level of treatment and was suitable for irrigation, the district still incurred about $250,000 in fines and ultimately was required to make roughly $1 million in improvements to its wastewater system.

Merchant said that history illustrates why the district is trying to stay ahead of the current problem before winter weather limits its options.