LAKEPORT — County officials, members of the Soda Bay Advisory Board and hired analysts met Wednesday to discuss upgrade options for the Soda Bay Water Treatment Facility (County Service Area No. 20) to ensure efficiency.
The facility serves Soda Bay, Lakewood Park Resort and Riviera Heights, according to the Special Districts website.
The district applied for planning grant money and received a funding agreement Tuesday, according to Lake County Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger.
“It is likely that the funding grant will get converted into a construction grant/loan and then we will move forward,” Dellinger said.
According to Dellinger, multiple issues need to be addressed at the water treatment facility and distribution system, which include the addition of a 100,000-gallon storage tank, an upgrade to the approximately 25-year-old ozone generator, as well as an upgrade to the facility clearwell.
Additionally, “there is a fair amount of the additional capital cost tied to primarily dealing with the algae issue,” Peter Krashnoff, principal engineer for West Environmental Services and Technology, of San Rafael, said.
A screw press and a dissolved air flotation system need to be purchased, which will total more than $1.5 million, according to Krashnoff.
In 2007 and 2008, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) inspected the facility and recommended the improvements, including upgrades to existing treatment equipment in January 2011, according to Krashnoff.
Originally the district “thought the best solution was a connection to Kelseyville Sewer,” Dellinger said. However, “there was a lot of concern and resistance from people in the community served by the water system that they didn”t necessarily like being connected to that and they wanted us to look at other options.”
An option that people have shown a strong interest in is a potential tie-in to the Kelseyville water system, Dellinger added.
The water system serves the downtown and surrounding residential areas of Kelseyville, according to the Special Districts website. Because of a growing customer base, “the water and treatment capabilities have been upgraded to keep up with the demand.”
“The best case scenario would be to tie into Kelseyville to use as a backup when wells dry up,” Lake County Special Districts Compliance Coordinator Jan Coppinger said.
J. W. Burch, IV is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at 900-2022 or at jburch@record-bee.com.
