The City of Lathrop is one step closer to discharging its treated wastewater into the San Joaquin River.

Earlier this month, the Lathrop City Council accepted the public improvements recently made by Teichert Construction to create a river outflow structure and two sections of pipeline that discharge water from Lathrop’s consolidated treatment facility directly into the San Joaquin River.

The city has spent years working to secure the permits necessary to discharge treated effluent water – thus freeing up the spray fields that it has to use to discharge water currently for potential future development.

Once the notice of completion is filed with the San Joaquin County Clerk, the city will release $201,538 within 45 days as well as the performance and payment bonds. That brings the grand total for the work to just over $4.03 million.

While the idea of having water that was once sewage flowing into a river may raise eyebrows, the truth is that with technological innovations over the years, the water left over after being treated is in some cases even cleaner than the water in the rivers that it is discharged into – somebody exponentially so.

Some water engineers have gone so far as to drink glasses of treated wastewater to show its effectiveness, and it’s not uncommon in the west for cities to use “reclaimed” water for irrigating ornamental plants and landscaping – saving traditional drinking water specifically for that purpose.

Before Lathrop began the permitting process to allow it to discharge into the San Joaquin River, the city used dedicated agricultural fields to spray the treated effluent so that it could percolate down into the same aquifer it was likely drawn from – using the layers of sediment to further filter the water before it is drawn back to be used again.

The city had a contract with Teichert Construction for $3.38 million and approved nearly $650,000 worth of contract change orders to complete the project.

Funding for the outfall and the piping was included in the city’s budget approved during the last budget cycle. The unused funds that were dedicated to the project will be transferred back into the city’s Water Replacement CIP Fund.

To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.