Flow Audit Study (FAS) Protocol

Download the FAS SUMMARY REPORT
JULY 2000

Background

In response to the State Board Order WQ 90-5, the San Jose Action Plan was proposed in 1991 by the City of San Jose on behalf of the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant (Plant) and the tributary agencies (Santa Clara, Milpitas, Cupertino Sanitary District, West Valley Sanitation District, County Sanitation Districts 2-3, Sunol and Burbank Sanitary Districts). The overall goal is to protect and restore salt marsh habitat for two endangered species by reducing the amount of freshwater flows from the Plant to below 120-mgd average dry weather effluent flow (ADWEF).

The Plant submitted a revised South Bay Action Plan to the Regional Water Quality Control Board in June 1997 and a Contingency Plan in December 1997. The Action Plan and its Contingency Plan were approved and incorporated as permit requirements in the Plant's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the RWQCB in June 1998. The Contingency Plan is a tiered approach to insure that the ADWEF is brought and remains below 120 million gallons per day (mgd).

Tier I of the Contingency Plan must be implemented if the measures contained in the 1997 Revised Action Plan do not achieve expected reductions and the ADWEF exceeds 120 mgd during the 1998 regulatory period (the average of the three lowest consecutive month's flows between May and October) or any subsequent year. If Tier I is necessary in 1998, implementation must begin by November 1, 1998. The Tier I measures are as follows:

• Public Awareness Campaign to increase the awareness and acceptance of ultra low flush toilets (ULFTs) and the need for water conservation to reduce flow from all sources to the Plant.
  

• Mandatory retrofit of bathrooms/lavatories with water saving fixtures (e.g. ULFTs, faucet aerators, and shower heads) and/or secure certification of existing water-saving fixtures upon resale of all residential, commercial, industrial and institutional property.
  

• Mandatory use of recycled water for landscaping for all customers within the recycled water service area with an annual nonpotable water use of 5 AF/yr.
  

• Require all Commercial/Industrial/Institutional dischargers whose flow to the sanitary sewer is 100,000 gallons per day or over to perform a flow audit and implement all cost effective flow reduction measures.

The following Flow Audit Study (FAS) protocol supports the Tier I requirement for Commercial, Industrial, and institutional flow audits.

What is the Flow Audit Study Protocol?

The Flow Audit Study program, and specifically this document, have been developed after extensive study and review of flow reduction and pollution prevention efforts at commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities in Santa Clara County. The Flow Audit Protocol provides guidance and establishes the industry parameters for preparing and completing the Flow Audit Study (FAS).

Also included are several forms/worksheets that will assist dischargers to the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant in gathering data, evaluating flow reduction options, and reporting the results.

Who Should Complete a FAS?

Any commercial or industrial establishment discharging an average of more than 100,000 gallons total per day to the sanitary sewer discharging to the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant. The baseline time period for calculating average daily flow for Tier I dischargers is January 1, 1997 - December 31, 1997.

Exemptions:

1	Dischargers are using South Bay Water Recycling (SBWR) water in an industrial process by October 31, 1998 and the remaining discharge from all other sources is less than 100,000 gpd;
2	Dischargers are currently piloting projects as part of a research study effort with the City which will either bring the facility's total discharge to below 100,000 gpd by August 1, 1999 or use SBWR as described in number A above; or
3	Dischargers submit closure plans to the City indicating that the company will not be in operation after August 1, 1999. The president or Chief Executive Officer of the company must sign this closure plan. If the facility is not proceeding towards closure by March 1, 1999, the company will have to begin completing a Flow Audit Study. Partial permanent closure of production lines will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Downloading and Electronic Version of the Flow Audit Study

Download the Flow Audit Study Protocol Text

This document contains the instructions for performing a water audit.

It can be downloaded as either a 489kb "MS Word 97" Document FAS-doc.doc

OR

Downloaded as a 167kb PDF document: FAS-doc.pdf.

Download Flow Audit Study Protocol Worksheets

These files contain an electronic version of forms to conduct the Flow Audit Study.

Data entry and maneuvering around the worksheets are included on the first page (worksheet) of the workbook.

1	Immediately make a copy of this file so that web down loaded file is kept clean while the second copy can be your working file.
2	Rename the copied file to prevent confusion.
3	After opening the document click "Enable Macros."
4	Make sure each worksheet fits on one page. The margins may differ depending on the printer used. Follow the first page instructions for "unprotecting" the document and then go to "Print Preview" and adjust the margins and column widths.

The "Flow Audit Study" worksheets are available here for download. The worksheets are saved as a MS Excel Workbook in 97/ 5.0-95 format.

You can download the 2.5 MB Excel file: FAS.xls
(Can take up to 30 minutes to download)

Or

You can download the 400kb compressed file: fas.zip
(Requires WinZip to expand to full size.)

If you have any questions contact Heidi Geiger at (408) 945-3000 or e-mail at heidi.geiger@sanjoseca.gov