Wastewater Treatment Plant:

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Wastewater Treatment Plant Observation Reports

Wastewater Treatment Plant Technical Information Updates

Horn Creek Water Treatment Plant:

In the late 1950’s, requiring a dependable year-round water source, the former Pacific City Water District (PCWD) obtained rights to divert water from Horn Creek located east of Woods. Horn Creek supplied a majority of the drinking water for Pacific City/Woods up until 1993 when the EPA’s mandated Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR) went into effect. In short, that mandate required filtration of surface waters that were to be used for drinking water. Because PCWD did possess the funds to build a filtration plant, Horn Creek was taken out of service. From that point forward, Pacific City/Woods drinking water came exclusively from shallow, dune wells.

Fast forward to 2006. Due to the exploding popularity of Pacific City as a tourist destination, it was apparent that the wells could not keep up with water demand especially during the busy summer months. That, coupled with the imminent threat of salt water intrusion into the wells from excessive water withdrawal rates, Pacific City Joint Water-Sanitary Authority (PCJWSA) set about exploring various options to bolster water production, but keep the wells safe from salt water contamination. Many alternatives were considered and analyzed, but the eventual consensus was to re-develop the Horn Creek site. However, that was easier said than done as the issue of funding was a huge hurdle to overcome.

In 2006, PCJWSA placed a question on the ballot for the electors to consider; should a $5.5 million dollar General Obligation (GO) Bond be passed in order to re-develop the Horn Creek facility and make other improvements? By 5 votes, the measure failed. Undeterred, the PCJWSA Board of Directors held community meetings, met with the Advisory Committee and eventually decided to re-submit the question to the electorate at the May 2007 Special Election. By a vote of 232 to 130, the measure passed.

Once the measure was approved, answering the questions of design and construction began immediately. After almost 2 years of pre-design, design, environmental hurdles and regulatory approvals, the project went out for bid. Construction began in earnest in late July 2009. The project was slated to be complete and fully functional by May of 2010. However, due to a myriad of project challenges, the facility did not go on-line until May 23, 2011.

The Horn Creek Surface Water Treatment Plant (HCSWTP) utilizes membrane technology to filter water from the stream. With a 0.1 micron pore size opening, the membranes filter most organic and pathogenic constituents from the water. The filtered water must still be disinfected as required by the SWTR before it can be delivered to consumers for consumption. Since going into operation in 2011, the HCSWTP has been dependably delivering clean, safe and “sweet” drinking water to the customers of PCJWSA.

Airport Lift Station:

Pacific City Joint Water-Sanitary Authority (PCJWSA) owns, operates and maintains 10 remote sewage pumping stations scattered throughout Pacific City and Woods. Of those 10, the Airport pump station, built in 1979, is the largest and most critically important to the community. It has also been the most susceptible to failure, including flooding. In light of those issues, the PCJWSA Board of Directors approved the purchase of an adjoining lot to accommodate the construction of a new pump station. In December 2008, the legal documents were executed and PCJWSA took possession of the property. This proved to be a fortuitous and forward thinking acquisition by PCJWSA.

On January 2, 2009, PCJWSA employees discovered what they had feared for many years; the pump station had failed and the facility was filled with flood waters, immersing the electric motors and other components in water. The first order of business was to set up emergency by-pass pumping and then drain and clean the facility in order to assess the damages.  Once the facility was drained, it was obvious that all the equipment was a total loss.

Because building a new facility would take time due to design, permitting and construction considerations, PCJWSA opted to rebuild the facility until a new one was in place. PCJWSA staff members set about removing all the old equipment, procuring new pumps, motors, control panels and related accessories. Staff and sub-contractors rebuilt the pump station and had it complete and ready for use in late February 2009. No simple task.

In the spring of 2012, PCJWSA had a new pump station facility design, permits were in place and the project went to bid. The contractor was selected and construction began in May 2012. The facility, designed to be flood and tsunami proof was built on concrete auger cast pilings and has 1 foot thick concrete walls. The building houses a standby generator and all the electrical components. To test the water-tightness of the building, the contractor was required to fill the inside of the building with water to ensure it did not leak, and it didn’t.

To facilitate the placement of the new wet well where the new pumps would be placed, an excavation to elevation -10 feet below mean sea level had to be accomplished. For perspective, the surrounding surface grade is at +8 feet above mean sea level. Again, concrete auger cast pilings were installed under the wet well to prevent settling of the structure. The very top of the wet well and the building concrete were constructed to elevation +14.60 feet above mean sea level, 1 foot above the 100-year flood as determined by FEMA maps.

The project was scheduled to be fully complete by December 2012. Unfortunately, due to numerous delays and complications, it was not completed until March 2013. Including construction, equipment procurement and engineering, the project topped $1,000,000 in costs. The bulk of those proceeds were out-of-pocket with only about $150,000 coming from a line of credit PCJWSA established prior to the beginning of the project. PCJWSA and its customers now have a dependable and larger capacity pump station they can count of for many years to come.