Remote System Monitoring at Ross Valley Sanitary District and Contributions to Improved Performance

Presentation Description: Established in 1899, Ross Valley Sanitary District (RVSD), California’s oldest sanitary district, with approximately 60% of the system installed prior to 1955. RVSD operates and maintains approximately 200 miles of collection sewer lines and 19 pumping stations which collect, pump and transport nearly four million gallons of wastewater per day. RVSD’s mission is ‘to provide our customers with high quality wastewater collection service, through a system that has no avoidable sanitary sewer overflows, at the lowest sustainable cost, in order to protect public health and the environment.’

In the early 2000s, as the statewide regulatory program for wastewater collection systems was initiated, RVSD struggled with the continuous occurrence of sanitary sewer overflows, or spills. In 2010 RVSD experienced multiple large spills along with many smaller volume spills, resulting in a Water Board ‘Cease and Desist Order’ in 2013. RVSD needed greater visibility into their aging sewer system to identify and understand high risk situations before spills occurred.

This presentation will showcase RVSD’s search, execution and return on investment in the implementation of remote sewer monitoring capabilities to eliminate spills. It will highlight their challenge in communications given the hilly terrain and poor cell coverage, their goal to provide safety and simplicity for their employees, and their need to continually protect public health and the environment. The return on investment has been substantial. In addition to a significant reduction in the number of spills, trending analysis has allowed RVSD to record behavior season over season to understand capacity issues and plan design projects accordingly, resulting in over $2 million of projects being reallocated. Resources have also been optimized, including a significant reduction in their ‘Storm Patrol’ initiated during wet weather events and the need for only one crew (vs. multiple crews) required at lift stations during planned power outages. Remote sewer monitoring capabilities have enabled RVSD to respond to sewer blockages in a timely manner to prevent several spills.

Recognized for their commitment and results, RVSD received the 2022 California Water Environment Association (CWEA) Wastewater Collection System of the Year Award for small systems (less than 250 miles in length).