Processing the daily flushings of just under 175,000 people who live in Santa Rosa alone is no small task. To keep ahead of the flow, Santa Rosa Water is undertaking an upgrade project to its main sewer line.

 

City engineers say that project entails rehabilitation of the Llano sewer trunk in west Santa Rosa

 

Richela Maeda, a Santa Rosa Water civil engineer, said this major sewer infrastructure project will repair approximately one and a half miles of trunk sewer that's located adjacent to Llano Road right near the city's Laguna Treatment Plant.

 

"This stretch of pipe is about fifty years old now, so it is at the end of it's useful life," Maeda said.

 

Maeda said a recent inspection by the city found enough signs of deterioration to warrant rebuilding the entire nine-mile stretch of the Llano Trunk over four phases.

 

Each phase will use a different method of construction. For this first phase, Maeda said the city chose "cured in place" pipelining for two reasons:

 

"One is that this method requires very minimal excavation and digging to actually repair the pipe," Maeda said. "And two, it can be completed in the shortest amount of time," Maeda said.

 

Aside from some traffic controls along Llano Road, Maeda said there will be other signs of the work underway.

 

"A big portion of this project is "bypassing" the sewer that currently flows through the trunk line," Maeda said, "So as you drive on Llano Road, you may see some black pipes sitting above ground, and that will be used to transport the sewer that goes in the trunk line typically to the Laguna Treatment Plant," Maeda said.

 

At a cost of just under $15 million dollars, crews broke ground on the first phase of the project in June and, according to Maeda, they should be done around October.

 

Phase one is being paid for primarily by ratepayers, but more money will be needed down the line.

 

"The city is actively seeking state and federal funding with support from representatives Huffman and Thompson," Maeda said, "as well as Senators Schiff and Padilla to complete future phases of the project," Maeda said.

 

You can follow the progress of this project on the city' website at SRCity.org.