Water Quality Issues at Plant 1, July 17

City of Coos Bay release – The City of Coos Bay’s Wastewater Treatment Plant #1 located at 680 Ivy Avenue serves the east side of Coos Bay, the Empire area, and the Bunkerhill area.  Plant #1 discharges treated and disinfected effluent to the Bay via an outfall.  The outfall is located near the Coast Guard Station located at 1496 Bayshore Drive.  The plant was originally constructed in 1954 with upgrades occurring in 1973 and 1990.  During summer, it is very common to take down certain processes of the plant to perform inspections and maintenance.  Last week the secondary clarify was taken down for an inspection and repair of an isolation valve. At this time, the clarifier is back online, but the Plant’s effluent is experiencing high fecal coliform counts.  Fecal coliform is used as indicator organisms to test the effectiveness of effluent disinfection in a wastewater treatment plant. While these organisms are generally harmless to us, they do live under the same conditions that human pathogens live. Since we cannot test for every pathogen in the effluent, we test for easily detectable indicator organisms. The assumption is that if we kill the indicator organisms then we most likely kill the pathogens during effluent disinfection. While it is not known for sure if the inspection and maintenance efforts were the cause of high fecal coliform counts, the City’s wastewater crew is taking immediate action to correct the situation; and as soon as the Plant’s effluent limits for fecal coliform are back into normal ranges, the City will notify the public.  Because of the potential of endangering human health and the environment, this situation was reported to Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Oregon Emergency Response System (OERS’s Reporting Number 2018-1560), and the Department of Agriculture. Plant 1 is due for an upgrade, and the City is currently undergoing planning efforts.  Recently, the City has completed the Facility Plan Amendment (FPA) which assessed the current Plant’s capabilities, explored alternatives for treatment and disinfection upgrades, presented cost estimates and comparisons, and made upgrade recommendations.  The FPA is being reviewed by DEQ, and it will be presented at the July 17, 2018 Council meeting.  Once the FPA has been approved by DEQ, design efforts will commence.  Any questions can be directed to the City of Coos Bay Public Works Department at (541) 269-8918.