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San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant
The San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant is one of the
largest advanced wastewater treatment facilities in California.
It treats and cleans the wastewater of over 1,500,000 people that
live and work in the 300-square mile area encompassing San Jose,
Santa Clara, Milpitas, Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Saratoga,
and Monte Sereno.
The Water Pollution Control Plant has the capacity to treat 167,000,000
gallons of wastewater per day. It is located in Alviso, at the southernmost
tip of the San Francisco Bay. Originally constructed in 1956, the
Plant had the capacity to treat 36,000,000 gallons of water per
day and only provided primary treatment. In 1964, the Plant added
a secondary treatment process to its system. In 1979, the Plant
upgraded its wastewater treatment process to an advanced, tertiary
system.
 Wastewater from sinks, toilets, and drains inside homes, businesses and schools
in most of Santa Clara Valley travels through an underground pipe
system, known as the sanitary sewer system, before it arrives for
treatment at the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant.
That journey can take up to 10 hours. About 18 hours later, 99%
of the impurities have been removed through a highly sophisticated
treatment process that simulates the way nature purifies water,
but at a greatly accelerated rate.
 Water
is a limited resource in the earth's closed ecosystem. By treating
wastewater, cleaner, fresh water is available for the continued
needs of humans, animals, and plants. Treating wastewater protects
human health from pathogenic bacteria such as typhoid, cholera,
dysentery, polio, and hepatitis. Wastewater treatment also prevents
oxygen depletion in the water supply and prevents odors.
Most of the final treated water from the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution
Control Plant is discharged as fresh water through Artesian Slough
and into South San Francisco Bay. About 10% is recycled through South Bay Water Recycling pipelines for landscaping, agricultural irrigation, and industrial needs around the South Bay.
 The
South Bay wetlands, along the Alviso shoreline, are part of the
largest urban wildlife refuge - The
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge - in
the United States. They are home to thousands of creature and two
endangered species: the California clapper rail and the salt marsh
harvest mouse. Too much fresh water discharged into South San Francisco
Bay may change the delicate mix of fresh and salt  water and the ecological balance of the Bay's fragile habitat. That's
why it's important to understand the impact of our homes and businesses
of the ecosystem of the South Bay and to do our utmost to conserve water.
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