San Mateo Announces Upcoming Meetings On Underground In-System Storage Evaluations, Site Selection

From the City of San Mateo: In January 2017, San Mateo City Council identified the City’s Corporation Yard and the San Mateo County Event Center as the final two site alternatives for the underground wastewater storage facility to progress to the next steps of design and to be further evaluated for potential impacts. Results of the evaluations for the Clean Water Program’s underground in-system storage facility location will be presented to the Public Works Commission and the City Council on Wednesday, June 14 and Monday July 17, respectively. Additional information and a staff recommendation will be provided at both meetings.

During heavy rains, San Mateo’s sewer system capacity can be overwhelmed by the amount of rainwater that enters the system. This can cause sewer overflows at the wastewater treatment plant and at locations around the city, such as manholes. These overflows contain a mixture of rainwater and untreated sewage. They are a danger to human health and the environment because they contaminate City streets, creeks, lagoons, beaches, and the San Francisco Bay.

The Clean Water Program is a comprehensive plan to solve the problem. The underground storage facility is just one element. Only when the sewer system becomes overwhelmed during heavy rains, it will serve as a temporary holding facility for diluted wastewater. This temporary storage will generally be for 24 hours or less, until the storm passes. It will relieve the collection system of capacity constraints and allow the wastewater treatment plant to “catch up” with the high flows.

Once the stored wastewater is released to the treatment plant, the facility will activate self-cleaning mechanisms to flush and clean the facility, all while odor control is in effect.

The potential locations for this approximately 5-million-gallon facility have been narrowed down to two sites: the San Mateo County Expo Center and the City’s Corporation Yard.

Public Works Commission

• June 14, 2017
• 7:30 p.m.
• City Hall, Council Chambers

City Council

• July 17, 2017
• 7:00 p.m.
• City Hall, Council Chambers

Public comments will be taken during both meetings. For meeting agendas, please click here.

For more information and answers to frequently asked questions, please visit here.

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