We don't accept that all of those requirements are appropriate or legal. Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant treats water that Vacaville residents flush down their toilets and wash down household drains, for example. The water arrives at the plant, where large pumps carry it through initial treatment. It then flows by gravity on a circuitous route ending at Alamo Creek. The wastewater flows through tanks, and solids drop to the bottom or float to the top.
Tiny organisms eat the sludge, breaking it down.
Near the end, the plant pumps chlorine gas through the water. The chlorine gas is later removed and the water flows into a pond next to the plant and out to the creek. The additional proposed treatment would involve running the water through a sand filter and under ultraviolet light to kill some remaining organisms, said Ron Clyma, a wastewater operator at the plant. Releasing ultra-clean water is not just expensive, it's also counterproductive, Tompkins said. For example, the proposed regulations require the city to remove chemicals called nitrates from the water.