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Construction for the Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 3 began in August 2007 and is expected to take about 30 months to complete. The plant will be retrofitted with modern technology to efficiently provide secondary and tertiary treatment processes, odor control, and an energy recovery facility. Secondary treatment will include a nitrogen removal process. The process is necessary to protect the groundwater. The tertiary treatment process, also known as Title 22 from the California Code that regulates it, will include a disinfections and filtrations process. This treated water will be used for all on-site mechanical processes, as well as irrigation for all on-site landscaping. Reusing the treated water for on-site uses is a great way to conserve water and is environmentally friendly. A major effort in the design process went into the implementation of effective odor control. An actual odor model was created on a computer, taking into account prevailing winds, odor sources, and the locations of the public to those odor sources. To greatly reduce odors at the plant, many tanks will be covered, and ventilated air from those tanks will be filtered through a large organic filter. The results of the computer model suggest that the odor at the property line will be significantly less than the odor of freshly cut grass. The energy recovery facility which will be constructed will be able to produce about 1.5 megawatts of electricity. Bio solids are a byproduct of the treatment process. These bio solids are pumped into air-free concrete tanks and heated to 95 degrees fahrenheit. Under heated conditions, the bio solids are biologically broken down and methane gas is produced. The methane gas is used to power large engines that turn electrical generators. These generators then produce electricity and reduce the amount of electricity purchased. The City of Bakersfield's Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 3 expansion will not only serve the citizens of the City for many years to come, but it will do so in an efficient and environmentally-friendly manner. View Construction Photos |
Due to the robust growth in the construction of new homes and commercial buildings, the City of Bakersfield's Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 3, located on Ashe Road, is nearing its treatment capacity. Design plans for expansion will double the current capacity from 16 million gallons per day to 32 million gallons per day. Based on current growth projections, this total treatment capacity will be sufficient until the year 2025.
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