M5.7: Sewage Facilities

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After some research on the City of Morgan Hill website, I found that there is no sewage treatment facility in my community. Instead, the wastewater treatment plant is located in Gilroy which is 2 cities south of Morgan Hill. The sewage from the collection system is transported via an interceptor to the Wastewater Treatment Plant which is then treated and discharged. The plant is owned and operated by the South County Regional Wastewater Authority under a Joint Power agreement with Morgan Hill and Gilroy. The interceptor aspect is intended to change. I found an news article from the Morgan Hill Times that says by 2019 that the current pipeline will be upgraded to be a newer, larger pipeline to reduce waste spillover that are caused from storms and flooding. It is a bit concerning that my community doesn't have a plant in the community to deal with the sewage and instead transports the waste to another community. From the news article, it appears that Morgan Hill has had a lot of spillover in San Martin which is a city in between Morgan Hill and Gilroy -- and they are facing the brunt of the contamination. Here is an example how the city's actions (or inaction) is impacting the health of another community. As a result of the incidents, I can say that at least Morgan Hill is holding themselves accountable for their slow actions to handle and repair the pipeline -- and working towards reducing (if not eliminate) future incidents. I think the city is doing a fair job in addressing the environmental impact that they had and fixing the issue. I think it may be possible that if Morgan Hill keeps expanding that the city would have their own sewage facility.

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 25, 2018 at 12:20 PM

    Hi Daisy,

    Menlo Park also does not have it's own sewage treatment facility, but I also did a google search to investigate whether there would be plans to build one -- there's definitely been some talk about it, but no news about actual building plants yet.

    Carmen

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownSeptember 29, 2018 at 11:25 AM

    Hi Daisy,
    I am glad to hear of upgrades to the pipeline, especially with all of the floods that have occurred in that area. I like your suggestion about Morgan Hill building their own sewage facility in light of the towns expansion.
    Great post!
    Kera

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownOctober 3, 2018 at 1:56 PM

    Hi Daisy,
    Thanks for sharing the sewage information facilities where you live. That is interesting that there are no treatment facilities in your community but that is great that it is transported through an interceptor. Also glad to hear that the current pipeline will be upgraded next year. Hopefully the newer, larger pipeline will reduce spillover and contamination.

    ReplyDelete

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