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Sewage launches wetlands revival Riverside's treated waste water

Sewage launches wetlands revival Riverside's treated waste water get further ``treatment'' as it benefits a growing wildlife area along the Santa Ana River. DAVID DANELSKI Publication Date: December 22, 1996 Page: B01 Section: LOCAL Zone: RIVERSIDE; SOUTHWEST; CORONA-NORCO

RIVERSIDE Sewage may be the last thing that come to mind when one goes through the Hidden Valley ponds alongside the Santa Ana River at the northwest corner of Riverside. Stately long-legged egrets, diving mallards, multi-colored wood ducks, hundreds of Canada geese and a plethora of fish and songbirds make the series of ponds near the Santa Ana River a sanctuary for wildlife. But the flora and fauna are fringe benefits of a city sewage-treatment strategy that uses Mother Nature to meet a state requirement to remove nitrogen from its highly treated sewage water. The ponds originally were built by a gun club for duck hunting. In the 1970s, they became part of county park called the Hidden Valley Wildlife Area and later - officials have no precise date - the city began feeding highly treated waste water into the ponds to keep them from drying up. It turned out this step actually helped clean the water further. By the 1980s, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside, found that the ponds naturally remove nitrogen from the waste water. Last year, the city completed about $2 million in improvements that added five new ponds and a network of pipes, dikes and monitoring devices that doubled the amount of water going through the ponds. Now about 10 million gallons a day, about a third of the city's treated waste water, goes through ponds on a 70acre portion of the 1,500-acre wildlife area. City officials now want more of what they call a good thing. They are planning to use a $200,000 state grant and about $185,000 from sewer connection fees to add about 15 acres of ponds, which are expected to increase the pond system's capacity by about 20 percent. Even more ponds could be in the future as Riverside grows, said John Claus, process control supervisor of the project. "It is just a win, win, win, all the way around," said Riverside Councilwoman Laura Pearson, who represents the area. Indeed, the benefits are many: o The city is meeting a state requirement to remove nitrogen from its treated sewage water without building an expensive processing plant.
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Sewage launches wetlands revival Riverside's treated waste water

o City-funded improvements have attracted more wildlife and enhanced the wild area, which is mostly state land but is operated by the Riverside County Park and Open Space District. o The project has won attention for the city's efforts. It has won five national awards and brought in officials and engineers from Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan, Claus said. The city of Phoenix also has shown an interest. It all started in 1990 with an expensive mandate from the state for the city to reduce nitrogen levels in the effluent that flows into the Santa Ana River from the city's sewage treatment plant at Jurupa Avenue and Van Buren Boulevard. Most of the nitrogen is in the form of nitrate, a pollutant potentially harmful to infants. Instead of a high-tech plant, the city sought a low-tech solution that capitalized on the research of Lanny Lund, a UCR soils scientist who helped illustrate that nature could do the job. Bacteria feeding on plant material and nitrate produces harmless water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas, Claus said. The aquatic plants also consume nitrogen as a nutrient. The ponds reduce the nitrate levels in the waste water by 57 percent, which lets the city meet a state standard for nitrogen levels of water discharged into the river, Claus said. Although the 70 acres used by the city are closed to public to protect sensitive bird nesting areas, the influx of wildlife and other improvements made by the city has improved the entire wildlife area, said Paul Frandsen, general manager of the county park and open space district. Under an agreement with the county, the city pays the county $137,000 a year in exchange for use of the pond area, Frandsen said. The money pays for a naturalist and a park ranger and goes toward maintenance of the marshes. The city also paid $30,000 toward the renovation of a nature center, which serves as park headquarters and an interpretive center. The project also has removed acres of Arundo cane, an ubiquitous exotic weed that chokes out native plants. The cane has been replaced with ponds and natural plant life, Frandsen said. "They create more surface water, so we get more birds," Frandsen said. Gambusia and Talipia fish in the ponds keep mosquitoes under control by eating their larvae. Jerry Thibeault, executive officer of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the water from the ponds is suitable for drinking once it percolates through the ground and is pumped out of wells. "It is really a first-class project and the city has a lot to be proud of," Thibeault said.
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3/25/2014

Sewage launches wetlands revival Riverside's treated waste water

Sewage: From homes to river Instead of building a more costly plant to remove nitrogen from highly treated waste water, the city lets Mother Nature do the job by running much of the water through a network of ponds in the Hidden Valley Wildlife Area before it flows into the Santa Ana River. The treatment plant After raw sewage leaves houses and businesses, wastewater is filtered and disinfected at a city plant. Aeration converts ammonia into nitrate, a pollutant that is potentially harmful to infants. The Hidden Valley ponds More than a third of the treated water goes through the Hidden Valley network of ponds, where natural processes convert nitrate into harmless water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas. By the time water leaves the pond, nitrate levels have been reduced by 57 percent. The Santa Ana River When averaged with nitrate levels in treated water that bypasses the ponds, the overall nitrate level of Riverside's treated water going into the Santa Ana River is reduced from 14 parts per million to 9.8 parts per million, which allows the city to meet state standards. ------------------------------------------------------------------Source: The City of Riverside Becky Hageman; The Press-Enterprise

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