Construction To Begin On New TUD Wastewater Facility
Sonora, CA — A groundbreaking ceremony will celebrate the start of construction on the Tuolumne Utilities District’s (TUD) Sonora Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility project.
Built in the 1970s, the current facility is nearly 50-years old, and the TUD board has hired Kiewit Infrastructure West, Co., out of Fairfield for the project with a price tag of $35,025,010. The groundbreaking ceremony is set for Monday, October 18th at 9:00 a.m. at the facility located at 1400 Southgate Drive in Sonora and is visible from Highway 108. Here is the design of the new Sonora Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility.
District officials detailed the work that will be done in a written release that stated: “The Project scope includes constructing a new wastewater treatment facility capable of treating an average of 2 million gallons of wastewater per day that will meet the current California Title 22 Standards for Disinfected Tertiary Treated wastewater. Specific improvements include a new septage receiving facility, new headworks screening and grit removal system, secondary treatment process consisting of extended aeration, secondary clarification, tertiary filtration, disinfection, an emergency storage basin, rehabilitation, and conversion of existing secondary anaerobic digester vessels to aerobic digesters, new sludge screw press for solids dewatering, along with emergency standby power, and a new administrative/operations building.”
As earlier reported here, most of the project cost is being covered by a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant/loan package that includes over $8.5 million in grant dollars, and about $24.9 million as a low-interest loan. The district will contribute around $8.8 million of its own funds from wastewater reserves. Construction is scheduled to be completed within two years, according to district officials.
