The Board of Supervisors is set to vote Tuesday on a proposal to design a new water treatment system that would intercept and clean contaminated river water before it reaches San Diego neighborhoods, beaches and waterways. The plan calls for spending $1.8 million on preliminary engineering work, along with an additional $4 million to address an urgent problem area along Saturn Boulevard, where sewage-tainted water becomes airborne and drifts into nearby communities.

Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer said the county can no longer wait on federal and international partners to solve a problem that has plagued residents for generations.

“We need to capture all of this waste, all this pollution, and we need to treat it before it gets into our rivers, before it gets near our schools, before it gets to our beaches,” Lawson-Remer said.

The funding push is tied to a countywide ballot measure voters will decide in November. Known as the Protect San Diego County Health and Safety Act, the proposed half-cent sales tax increase could bring in roughly $360 million annually, with about $80 million a year set aside specifically for Tijuana River pollution projects.

County officials estimate that steady stream of tax revenue could support between $700 million and $1 billion in bonds — enough to finance construction of new treatment facilities. Lawson-Remer pointed to previous examples of the county using general obligation bonds to pay for major infrastructure, including airport terminals and road projects, as a model for how the sewage cleanup effort could be financed.

“So the only real question is whether we as a community have the will and the determination to make that same kind of long-term commitment and investment to solving the Tijuana River sewage crisis?” she said.

The pollution problem has plagued Imperial Beach, Coronado and other South County communities for years, forcing repeated beach closures, sickening swimmers and surfers, and even disrupting Navy SEAL training operations near Coronado. Beyond the water itself, the river releases hydrogen sulfide gas and other airborne toxins that have been linked to asthma, headaches and other health problems among residents living nearby. The contaminated water also carries industrial chemicals, pesticides and pharmaceutical residue.

Wastewater treatment plants on both sides of the border are supposed to filter out much of that contamination, but aging infrastructure has repeatedly failed over the past decade, allowing hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage to spill into the river. While recent federal investment — about $650 million — has funded repairs and upgrades to those facilities, significant amounts of pollution still bypass treatment altogether and flow directly into the waterway.

County leaders say a new facility built specifically to divert and treat river water as it crosses the border could close that gap.

“We can’t control what happens across the border, but we can control what we do on our side of it,” Supervisor Paloma Aguirre said.

Natalie Mladenov, an engineering professor at San Diego State University, said the treatment approach could range from advanced purification methods — including reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration and ultraviolet disinfection — capable of removing nearly all contaminants, to a more basic treatment process designed simply to meet federal ocean discharge standards.

Supervisors described the effort as a rare opportunity to deliver a lasting fix on an aggressive timeline, rather than continuing to depend on slow-moving federal and international negotiations.

“We will continue to pressure Washington and Mexico, but we will set the pace,” Aguirre said. “We’re done waiting for someone else’s timeline.”

Original source: CalMatters

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LAKE ELSINORE, CA — Officials from Lake Elsinore and representatives from a water treatment company that deployed a system earlier this year to eliminate algae and other impurities in the 3,300-acre water body will hold a “Global Water Summit” a week from Tuesday to highlight progress in the transformation process.

The city’s partnership with Hawthorne-based Moleaer Inc. was announced just before Christmas, and within a couple of months, the company deployed its Nanobubble Generators system to begin cleansing the water, in what Lake Elsinore Mayor Steve Manos characterized at the time as a major move toward “progressive and sustainable change.”

“The Global Water Summit on Sept. 10 will feature presentations, discussions and interactive sessions that highlight a ‘One Water’ approach to water treatment and the transformative impact of nanobubble technology on various treatment points, including large water bodies like Lake Elsinore,” according to a municipal statement. “Attendees will have the opportunity to explore the potential of this cutting-edge technology in addressing global water challenges and ensuring a sustainable future for communities worldwide.”

The Nanobubble Generators feature industrial-strength Titan NB6 nanobubble circulation units stationed on a floating barge that’s anchored in Lake Elsinore. The system is designed to treat 2,400 gallons of water per minute, according to Moleaer CEO Nick Dyner.

“Nanobubbles are extremely efficient at transferring oxygen into the water, which decreases the amount of phosphorus released from the bottom of the lake and reduces harmful algae blooms,” Dyner said.

He said the generators inject nanobubbles that are 2,500 times compacter than grains of sand and contain a “charged surface,” which in algae- riddled water agitates sediment and disperses contaminants, without need of chemicals.

“Through this collaboration, significant strides have been made to restore and preserve the lake’s ecosystem, ensuring it remains a vital resource for the community and a model of environmental stewardship,” the city stated. “Within the first month of Moleaer’s pilot treatment, water clarity reached the highest level it had been in four years, and after four months of treatment, there was a 95% reduction in accumulated organic matter — muck — at the lake bottom in the pilot treatment area.”

The technology application has been part of a $2 million restoration effort initiated by the Lake Elsinore City Council. Manos said the system was central to the overall Lake Management Plan to ensure long-term ecological balance in the freshwater lake — the largest body of its kind in the region.

During the Sept. 10 summit, there will be boat rides and “interactive sessions” that provide interested parties an opportunity to see the nanobubble system in action up close.

Algae blooms have prompted “no swimming” restrictions and prohibitions on other recreational uses at the lake numerous times, typically during the spring and summer months. In June, an algal bloom led the California Water Resources Control Board to post warnings around the lake, discouraging people from going into the water for any type of recreation due to cyanobacteria hazards.

Algal growth is attributed to higher volumes of nutrients in the water, combined with elevated temperatures, lots of sunshine and little to no wind.

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