ACUA’s Wastewater Treatment Facility treats approximately 25 million gallons of wastewater from homes and businesses each day. Wastewater arriving at the facility goes through a multi-step treatment process to meet strict state and federal standards before it is safely returned to the environment.
After treatment is complete, the cleaned water, known as treated effluent, is ready to be discharged. Before leaving the facility, treated effluent is held in a basin located next to the wastewater pump house. From there, heavy-duty pumps inside the pump house move the treated effluent through a miles-long pipe that carries it safely into the ocean.
To strengthen the reliability of this critical system, ACUA installed a permanent bypass connection that can be used during scheduled maintenance or unexpected emergencies requiring the pump house to be temporarily taken offline. This $1 million investment ensures treated wastewater can continue to be discharged efficiently, even during those situations.