M5.7 Your Sewage Facilities

The sewage facilities (or wastewater treatment plant) for Pinole and Hercules are located in Pinole. This plant removes about 97% of waste from the 3.5 million gallons of water processed everyday. The remainder is then disinfected with hypochlorite. The hypochlorite is then removed and the water is finally released into San Pablo Bay. Knowing that most waste is removed from the water and that the rest is disinfected is a little reassuring. However, this water being released back into the bay is not. One can't help but wonder if the remaining 3% waste is truly and thoroughly disinfected and taken from the water before being released. The San Pablo Bay, which is the north eastern part of the San Francisco Bay, is home to many animals and plants in the area. It is also the site of many recreation activities that a lot of East Bay residents take part in. This puts everyone in contact with the water at risk of being exposed to the contaminants and waste potentially missed by the wastewater treatment plant. I have not looked into other sewage facilities in the area, but my guess is that the Pinole/Hercules facilities are not the only ones releasing waste into the Bay.


Comments

  1. Sandy TanSeptember 26, 2018 at 5:20 PM

    Hi Hugo,
    You brought up a great point about whether if the remaining 3% of the water has been thoroughly disinfected. This becomes a public health concern if people come in contact to the waters.

    ReplyDelete
  2. USF MPH ClassSeptember 27, 2018 at 11:35 AM

    Hi,
    Amazing though that they can process so much and get the water pretty clean. If you are concerned about the 3% do you boil your water for extra protection or drink it anyway through your water filter? I wonder how it compares to other plants? Dan

    ReplyDelete

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