With water becoming more of a valuable resource this dry season, Oakdale city officials are contemplating the idea of finding a way to utilize treated wastewater for irrigation purposes or to possibly recharge the city’s eight deep groundwater wells.  

With the completion of the city’s wastewater treatment plant upgrades and with the continued dry weather in the region, city officials feel it is a good time to explore the topic and begin dialogue with the Oakdale Irrigation District about the possibility of working together to conduct a Wastewater Reclamation Feasibility Study.

The City of Oakdale owns and operates the Oakdale Wastewater Treatment plant located at 9700 Liberini Avenue north of the Stanislaus River. The facility can treat up to 2.4 million gallons per day of domestic and industrial wastewater.

The Wastewater Treatment Plant is accountable for eliminating contaminants from wastewater. It goes through a physical, chemical, and biological process. This method gets rid of bacteria, reduces turbidity, removes odors, reduces the amount of iron, and removes other particulate matter that remains in the water. Officials claim the water is even clean enough to safely drink after it has been treated.

“It’s pretty much in its infancy stages right now,” said Oakdale City Councilman Tom Dunlop on the research into the possibility. “I know there’s usable water there. We have to see how best to use it.”

Dunlop said that since there are many ways to use the wastewater, the study would help define for the city which avenue to take and what infrastructure would be needed.

On Jan. 21, the Oakdale Irrigation District board unanimously approved a partnership with the City of Oakdale to investigate a water conservation project. OID and the city have talked for a number of years about a project to recycle treatment plant water into OID canals as a way to conserve water.

For the entire story, read the Jan .29 edition of The Leader.