Background

The City of Santa Rosa provides water and wastewater service to all residents residing inside the corporate limits of the city. However, the community has experienced immense population growth in the last 20 years, mostly in the form of 16 colonias on the outskirts of the city that were developed in an unregulated environment without access to a
centralized water and wastewater system. Consequently, on-site disposal systems were installed that, in many cases, do not meet the minimum standards for septic tanks or lot sizes, and thus pose a serious threat to the environment and human health.

Since 1992, Santa Rosa has extended water distribution lines to three of these colonias, and wastewater collection lines to one colonia. It is anticipated that the North Alamo Water Supply Corporation will supply water to eight colonias, so the city is looking to provide water service to five colonias and wastewater services to fifteen colonias.

Moreover, this increased demand has affected the quality of the City’s services. The water supply system is unable to provide adequate service to its current customers nor meet minimum state quality standards as a result of insufficient capacity and old and undersized lines. The small wastewater treatment plant is also working at full capacity servicing
existing customers. In order to add new customers, additional capacity is needed.

Description

The project will provide adequate water and sewer service to 305 colonia
households, as well as expand and rehabilitate the existing Santa Rosa
system.

Water System Improvements

• Expansion of the water treatment plant from 0.695 to 1.002 million
  gallons a day (MGD).
• Installation of approximately 19,000 linear feet of 8-inch
  distribution lines.
• Construction of 305 water connections.
  

Wastewater System Improvements

• Expansion of the wastewater treatment plant from 0.39 to
  0.681 MGD.
• Installation of approximately 68,200 linear feet of sewer pipe and
  19,600 feet of sewer force main.
• Construction of 5 lift stations.
• Installation of 305 sewer connections.
• Decommissioning of existing septic tanks.

Note: The project was later downsized due to insufficient funding. Only
the water treatment plant expansion was carried out.

Benefits

With this project the City will be able to bring its water system into compliance with state standards, thus improving the delivery and quality of its services. In addition, the project will allow the city to extend firsttime water and wastewater service to 305 colonia households, thus reducing the environmental hazards associated with substandard on-site wastewater systems.