Wastewater Services
The City of Ventura provides sewer service to approximately 98% of City residences. The total area served includes a population over 109,000. We also perform wastewater collection and treatment for McGrath State Beach Park and the North Coast Communities (Ventura County Service Area 29).
These residences generate approximately 9 million gallons of wastewater per day, which is carried by more than 375 miles of sewer mains and 14 lift stations to the Ventura Water Reclamation Facility. The Ventura Water Reclamation Facility is a tertiary treatment plant, located in the Ventura Harbor area near the mouth of the Santa Clara River.
How Wastewater is Cleaned
Ventura's Water Reclamation Facility, 1400 Spinnaker Drive, is situated
on the north bank of the Santa Clara River Estuary. Following a three-step
treatment process at the facility, treated wastewater is discharged
into the estuary.
Holding Tanks
and applied to approved agricultural land. If weather conditions prevent land
application, the solid materials are transported to landfills.
The treated wastewater enters a system of wildlife ponds adjacent to the estuary.
The wildlife ponds have a combined capacity of 34 million gallons. The treated
wastewater is retained in these ponds for approximately 4 days. Water at the
end of the wildlife pond system is either discharged to the estuary or delivered
to reclaimed water customers.
How We Use It Again
The Ventura Water Reclamation Facility includes pump stations and pipelines for water reclamation. In 1998 the daily average volume of treated wastewater reclaimed was over 700,000 gallons. Our reclaimed water system provides water for irrigation of golf courses, parks and similar landscape areas. This reuse is an integral part of the city water conservation program and represents a reduction in demand on the drinking water supply each year of approximately 300 million gallons.
For more information about our reclaimed water system, please call Wastewater Maintenance & Operations at 805-677-4114.
Why You Should Join the Main "Stream"
On occasion, property owners in nonsewered areas have expressed interest in connecting to our system due to continuing septic system problems. There are approximately 800 City residences that are not connected to our sewer system. Connection to the sewer system benefits property owners, the environment and the water quality in the area. Individual septic systems can degrade groundwater quality. Many people are not aware that the high bacterial levels associated with beach closures can be due, in part, to leaking or damaged septic systems.
To learn more about connecting to the City's sewer system, please
call Engineering Services
at (805) 654-7829 or Wastewater Operations at (805) 677-4114.
If you need more information, please call the following numbers:
Utility Billing & Customer Services (805) 667-6500
Water Maintenance & Operations (805) 652-4500
Wastewater Maintenance & Operations (805) 677-4114
Emergency After Hours (805) 339-4399