Sacramento Fights Ammonia, Nitrates With $2 Billion Sewage Makeover

Sacramento is launching a major construction project this winter intended to overhaul the city's sewage system.

"An official groundbreaking ceremony for what has been dubbed the Echo project is scheduled for May, but some preliminary work has already begun. It will employ up to 600 construction workers at its peak, officials said," KCRA reported.

The project has a hefty price tag: "It's a $2 billion upgrade to the Sacramento County Sewage Treatment Plant. The project is aimed at cutting back the amount of pollutants, such as ammonia, that go into the Sacramento River and making what comes out cleaner for people who get their drinking water from the river," KFBK reported.

The county's current sewage plant dates back to 1982. It meets the treatment needs of 1.5 million people. Regulators decided five years ago that the plant is releasing too much ammonia, nitrates, and other contaminants into the river, according to the report.

The overhaul is intended to address those concerns. "It'll reduce ammonia in the Sacramento River," said Ruben Robles, the district's director of operations, per the report. "It'll reduce ammonia in the Delta, because that has had an impact, according to the regulators, on the fish habitat."

Vick Kyotani, program manager for the Sacramento Regional Sanitation District, said the Echo project is a milestone for the county.

"The sewage treatment plant project is expected to be twice as expensive as the new passenger terminal at the Sacramento International Airport and more than four times the cost of the future downtown arena," the report said.

Project officials say the overhaul may eventually provide a revenue source.

"Sanitation authorities hope the project will allow them to raise revenue by selling billions of gallons of highly treated wastewater to farmers in southern Sacramento County and a power plant at the former Campbell Soup factory in south Sacramento," the San Francisco Bee reported.

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