May 11, 2008

Stench of sewer rate hikes in the Peninsula air

Officials project residents' wastewater bills will double within the next 10 years

By Shaun Bishop / Daily News Staff Writer

Sewer rates for many Peninsula residents are projected to double in the coming decade as a regional wastewater agency does hundreds of million dollars' worth of backlogged upgrades to its aging system.

The board of the South Bayside System Authority - which provides sewer service to Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City and the West Bay Sanitary District - Thursday approved a package of upgrades totaling $339 million.

The agency says most of the southern Peninsula's wastewater infrastructure was installed in the 1960s and '70s and now must be replaced to prevent pump failures and raw sewage spills into the Bay.

"This is not something you put in the drawer and say, 'This'll go away, and this'll be fine,'" said Bob Grassilli, a San Carlos City Council member who sits on the authority's board. "We haven't had any problems, and we don't want any problems."

For residents, the fixes will come with some financial pain, as they'll have to foot the bill for all 131 projects over the next 10 years. Officials say that's because the authority didn't implement gradual rate hikes that would have allowed it to keep up with maintenance.

Instead, the authority's members opted to keep rates as low as possible. Though sewer rates are set by individual cities, General Manager Dan Child said residents served by the authority generally pay an average of between $31 and $36 per month.

Child predicted rates will at least double by the time the work is done.

Everyone agrees that stinks, but there are few options, Child said. The authority will take out bonds and loans to pay for the upgrades.

"From day one, there should have been money set apart to start paying for these replacements down the road," Child said. "Now it's gotten to the point that these plants are wearing out. And we're not alone."

He noted other agencies around the country also had kept rates too low and are paying for it now.

San Jose, for example, needs an estimated $900 million in wastewater improvements, Child said. And Houston will spend $1.6 billion on its wastewater infrastructure during the next eight years.

For the authority, the biggest amount, $125 million, will be spent on the force main, a large pipe that extends from Marsh Road in Menlo Park to the authority's treatment plant in Redwood Shores.

Built in the 1960s, the force main was designed to handle about 13 pounds of pressure per square inch, Child said. Now, the agency runs the force main at 22 to 23 pounds of pressure per square inch and depends on it as the backbone of the entire system.

"It's old and is not designed for what we're using it for," Child said. "That's the one I stay up nights and lose sleep over."

Each of the pump stations in Menlo Park, Redwood City and San Carlos are 40 to 50 years old and will require a total of about $48 million in upgrades to prevent the frequent failures that now occur and threaten to cause wastewater spills.

The agency will also spend $15 million on tech upgrades to increase automation; $15 million on electrical system upgrades; and $27 million to fix tanks used in processing waste.

Grassilli said sewer rates will still be low compared to rates in some jurisdictions such as Hillsborough, where residents pay an average of $126 per month. Still, he said cities will need to educate residents about why their bills will be going up for years to come.

"If we don't explain the rate increase, I don't think they'll be understanding at all," Grassilli said.



E-mail Shaun Bishop at sbishop@dailynewsgroup.com.