07 - Private Sewer Pumping Station Maintenance Program Costa Mesa Sanitary District …an Independent Special District Protecting our community’s health and the environment by providing solid waste and sewer collection services. www.cmsdca.gov Memorandum To: Board of Directors From : Scott Carroll, General Manager Date: September 16 , 2014 Subject: Private Sewer Pumping Station Maintenance Program Summary In an effort to help prevent private Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO), District staff came up with a program to help diagnose the operational condition of private sewer pump stations. This service is free to any of the twenty -six existing private pump stati on owners that are currently located within CMSD service area. Staff Recommendation Tha t the Board of Directors review and comment on the program. Analysis In 2013, there were 43 private SSOs in Orange County that were reported to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board (SARWQCB); however, staff believes that number is extremely low because often private SSOs do not get reported to regulatory agencies. Private SSOs can pollute the waterways and damage the environment, so it is important for pr ivate property owners to properly maintain their sewer infrastructure. The District already has a successful Sewer Lateral Assistance Program (SLAP) that offers to homeowners up to $1,250 in reimbursement expenses for making improvements to their sewer la teral. The Private Sewer Pumping Station Maintenance Program is available to private commercial entities that have a pump station located on their property. Upon request and after receiving permission to enter their property, staff will inspect the pumps and make recommendations for improvements. Staff will perform the following inspections:
Board of Directors September 16, 2014 Page 2 of 3 • Observe station in normal working condition • Check valves • Exercise plug valves • Check electrical wiring and components • Check motor starters, breakers and fuses • Check motor chords and check resistance • Check motor windings • Take amperage reading for the motors At the conclusion of the inspection a list of recommended repairs will be given to the property owner/manager and it will be up to he/she to perform those repairs. A list of qualified contractors will be provided to the owner/manager, but staff will not recommend a specific contractor. This program was prepared over a year ago, but with recent staff changes in the Maintenance Division, the program was placed on ho ld. The District is now fully staffed i n the Maintenance Division, which includes the new SCADA Technician/Industrial Electrician ; therefore, staff believes this program can be reprised. Letters along with the brochure (see Attachment A) will be mailed t o the twenty six private pump station owners/managers. All that is required is for the District to receive an email from the property owner/manager wishing to participate in the program and giving District staff permission to enter the property. Staff will then coordinate with the owner/manager on a date and time of staff’s arrival. Strategic Plan Element & Goal This item complies wit h Strategic Element 3 .0., Partnerships , and Strategic Goal No. 3.3 , Develop a partnership with property owners that operate private sewer pump stations . Legal Review Not applicable Environmental Review The proposed private pump station oversight and recommendation program is categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Public Resources Code Section 21000 et. seq.) under Section 15309 Inspections as a “Class 9” activity desc ribed as: Class 9 consists of activities limited entirely to inspections, to check for performance of an operation, or quality, health, or safety of a project, including related activities such as inspection for possible mislabeling, misrepresentation, or adulteration of products.
Board of Directors September 16, 2014 Page 3 of 3 Financial Review The District will incur $25 in mailing and printing cost of the program broch ur es to the twenty -six property owners /managers . Staff estimates the two hour inspection per station for two employees will cost $160 plus $100 in equipment rental rates (e.g. crane truck) for a total per station cost of $260 . If all twenty -six property owners participate , the total program cost would be $6 ,7 85 . These costs are included in the existing budget . T herefore , no additional appropriation is needed . Public Notice Process Copies of this report are on file and will be included with the entire agenda packet for the September 16 , 2014 Bo ard of Directors study session at District headquarters and on District’s websi te. Alternative Actions 1. Direct staff to report back with more information . Attachment A: CMSD Pollution Prevention Program Flyer Reviewed by: Wendy Davis Finance Manager
The Costa Mesa Sanitary District was formed in 1944 under the Sanitary District Act of 1923. The District boundaries en-compass all of the City of Costa Mesa and portions of Newport Beach and unincor-porated Orange County. The population is approximately 116,700. The District is responsible for residential trash collection and transmittal to a recy-cling facility for recycling and disposal. The District also provides liquid waste collection and transmission to Orange County Sanitation District facilities for treatment and disposal. The District’s method of recycling allows residents to place all their trash in stand-ardized containers without any sorting. The trash is taken to a recycling facility in Stanton where it is mechanically and hand sorted and the recyclables are re-moved. The District reached 57% diver-sion and is in full compliance with all State mandates. In January 2015, the Dis-trict will implement an Organics Recy-cling Program (ORC) where green waste and food scraps will be recycled into Re-newal Natural Gas (RNG). The District will reach 75% diversion from ORC. The District’s sewer system consists of 224.2 miles of sewer mains and 20 sewer pumping stations. Discharge rates from the pumping stations vary from 45 gal-lons per minute (gpm) to 3,750 gpm. The total daily flow from the District is 10.1 million gallons per day (mgd). District staff members also wo rk regionally host-ing seminars and educational events. The District was awarded Collection Sys-tem of the Year in 2012 by the California Water Environment Association. ABOUT THE COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT Costa Mesa Sanitary District Pollution Prevention Program “Protecting our community’s health and the environment by providing solid waste and sewer collection services” Private Sewer Pumping Station Maintenance Program The District is offering No-Cost expert technical, maintenance, and engineering discussion and recommendations for achieving reliable service and avoiding sewer overflows, which are illegal and damage the environment. Take advantage of this no-cost offer by calling the District at 949) 548-7505 or (949) 645-8400. The District’s goal is to keep the beaches open and our waterways pollution free. The District is well known for its innovative programs including the residential sewer lateral assistance program and this private pumping station main tenance program. For more information on the sewer lateral assistance program, please call 949) 548-7505 or (949) 645-8400. Electrical panels, telemetry, liquid level sensing. Gate valves, plug valves, check valves, discharge bases. Wet wells with submersible pumps on guide rails. Corrosion and odor prevention.
Regulatory Requirements The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prohibits sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and may levy fines for spills. The State of Cali-fornia Water Re-sources Control Board (SWRCB) issued orders in 2002 and 2006 re-quiring comprehensive sewer system man-agement and prohibiting sewer spills from public agency sewer system owners. Discussion Points * Recommended maintenance intervals for pumps, valves, electrical components, etc. * Maintenance charts for tracking activities * Odor and corrosion prevention * Prevent pumps from clogging * All related subject matter Free Pump Testing by SCE Southern California Edison (SCE) will test the efficiency of any pump station free of charge. Call (909) 820-5519 No cost Site visits by the District arranged to coincide with pre-scheduled mainte-nance activities Goal of achieving reliable service and lower costs for property owners Public/Private Partnerships result in experts collaborating to achieve higher standards using less resources List of contractors provided How to participate? The property owner or authorized agent should send an email or letter authorizing the District to enter your property and initiate the program. Contact: Steve Cano Maintenance Supervisor Phone: (949) 548-7505 Fax: (949) 548-7510 Email: scano@cmsdca.gov Website: www.cmsdca.gov Just state: “I wish to participate in the District’s no-cost private pumping station maintenance program and authorize the District to enter my property to initiate the program.” Include name, address and phone number. Note, this is not an enforcement program. Owners will not be cited or listed in CMSD files for im proper condition of a pumping station. 628 W. 19th Street Costa Mesa, CA 92627 Phone: 949-645-8400 Fax: 949-650-2253 Web Site: www.cmsdca.gov Benefits of Program CMSD Personnel consists of pumping sta-tion maintenance experts, pump techni-cians, operations ma nagers, maintenance workers, inspectors, and engineers. The District owns and operates 20 sewer pumping stations ranging from small to large. Steve Cano Maintenance Supervisor cell: (949) 281-6785 Tony Gomez SCADA Technician/Industrial Electrician cell: (323) 810-9966 Alex Arreola Maintenance Worker II cell: (714) 235-2995 Rob Hamers District Engineer cell: (714) 293-2727 Additional Incentive for Participation!! If an owner particip ates in the program and if his/her pumping station is main-tained to a reasonably good condition as determined by the Di strict, should a fail-ure occur that results in a sewer spill, the District will respond and assist in clean-ing up the spill free of charge in addition to determining the cause and corrective measures.