City Wants $150M Water Recycling Plant in Golden Gate Park -- But Shut One There in 1981

Recycled water isn't emanating from those sprinklers in San Francisco. But it did in the days of yore.

​Last night, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission held its first public meeting regarding a proposed water recycling plant in Golden Gate Park. The $150 million plant would treat 2 million gallons of former raw sewage daily before sending it toward city parks.

Left unsaid in early coverage of the proposed plant, however, is that San Francisco, for decades, had a wastewater reclamation plant in Golden Gate Park -- and shut it down in the 1980s.

While Golden Gate Park was originally irrigated with raw sewage, a 1932 deal with the McQueen Sewage Disposal Company led to the construction of a plant able to recycle around 1 million gallons of water a day near Speedway Meadow on 25th. That, by the way, was the first plant constructed in California solely for "wastewater treatment and reuse." The McQueen Treatment Plant was closed in 1981 -- SFPUC spokesman Tyrone Jue says state regulatory changes insisting on higher standards doomed it. 

Be that as it may, San Francisco is now the only major city in the state that does not use any recycled water -- our lawns are moistened and our toilets flushed with pristine Hetch Hetchy water. Jennifer Clary, a water policy analyst at Clean Water Action, points out that San Francisco has, amazingly, managed to be both first and last on this issue.

SFPUC

The proposed plant and pipleline

​When asked why San Francisco has lagged here, she replied "We don't use reycled water because we don't have to. It's a matter of convenience and cost. In Southern California, tehir water quality isn't as good as ours, so recycled water is as good or better than clean water. And they pay so much in energy costs [to transport their water] that it's very cost-effective to recycle."

As for the proposed price of the new plant, Zachary Dorsey of the Virginia-based Water Reuse Foundation said $150 million isn't out of line -- the plant will treat water piped in from the Oceanside Water Pollution Plant, and much of the costs for these plants is upgrading the underground plumbing, he said. (The PUC website lists the cost of the project at $109 million -- which Jue said was a mistake). In any event, the price tag is ostensibly coming out of the $4.6 billion Hetch Hetchy Water Safety Improvement Program pot -- which also allows for water-saving investments like this. So, ostensibly, you've approved its bond financing already. 

Incidentally, the proposed plant will be situated on the site for many years occupied by the Richmond/Sunset plant -- the predecessor sewage treatment facility to the Oceanside (George W. Bush) plant. As for how much money -- and water -- would have been saved if the McQueen Plant had never been closed down -- that's the kind of number that leaves folks drained.

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