Sunnyvale Holds Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Completion of Headworks and Primary Treatment Project

The City of Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant (Plant) recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 27th to celebrate the successful completion of the first major project to rebuild the Plant. The event honored the City employees and the past and present City Council members who were instrumental in making this project successful. The ceremony was attended by City leadership, project team members, and several of their consultants.

This project, also known as the Headworks and Primary Treatment project, involved upgrading critical parts of the primary treatment facilities, addressing seismic vulnerabilities, and rehabilitating aging infrastructure. The existing facilities lacked influent screens and grit removal, exposing the influent pumps and downstream processes to damaging debris and reducing treatment capacity of the sludge digesters.

The new headworks, where wastewater enters the Plant, consists of screening, pumping, and high-efficiency grit removal functions. The new primary equipment includes six large sedimentation tanks, each equipped with a chain and flight sludge collector and sludge hopper, a shared pair of sludge pumps, return flight skimmers, a shared pair of scum pumps, and dilution fans for odor control. The six sedimentation tanks allow for a slower overflow rate, which increases primary solids removal and reduces the biological load to secondary treatment processes. The new upgrade is the first step in discharging a safer and cleaner wastewater to the San Francisco Bay. The cost of this project was approximately $100 million.