Testing Scheduled for MST Recycled Water Pipeline

Recycled water will finally make its way to the Coombsville area after 10 years of planning and almost 2 years of construction.  In mid-December 2015, the Napa Sanitation District will be testing the newly constructed Milliken-Sarco-Tulocay (MST) Recycled Water Project, a 5-mile pipeline and booster pump station, that brings irrigation water to vineyards, homes, an elementary school and the Napa Valley Country Club.   The project has been constructed through a partnership between Napa County, the Napa Sanitation District, and property owners that have joined the specially formed MST Community Facilities District to fund the project.  

Napa Valley Country Club has recently completed construction of a new pond to receive the recycled water for irrigation of its 182 acres of property.  Through a partnership with the Napa Sanitation District, their new pond will be utilized to receive recycled water resulting from the performance-testing of the new MST pump station located over 5 miles away on Napa State Hospital property.  Irrigation of the Napa Valley Country Club with recycled water will result in conservation of between 150 and 200 acre feet (over 50 million gallons) per year of groundwater that is pumped from the Milliken-Sarco-Tulocay area aquifer.

Within the next year, over 50 participating properties will connect to the recycled water pipeline and begin to use recycled water.  The pipeline is designed to initially deliver up to 700 acre-feet (230 million gallons) per year of recycled water to the area and is expandable to 2,000 acre-feet per year (650 million gallons).  An extension to this new system is currently under consideration following the recent award of drought-relief grant funding and additional interested property owners.

 “The MST area of Napa commonly experiences an overdraft of the groundwater table, and this project will help reduce the need to use potable water for irrigation,” said Keith Caldwell, County Supervisor and Vice Chair of the Napa Sanitation District Board.  “With this new pipeline, we will have the potential to conserve 50 million gallons of potable water a year, which is extremely important given our current drought situation.”

The high-quality recycled water will come from the Napa Sanitation District Soscol Water Recycling Facility.  Recycled water is wastewater that has been highly treated and disinfected to provide a safe, non-potable water supply. NSD’s recycled water meets the stringent water quality guidelines set by the California Department of Public Health.

Napa Sanitation District provides wastewater collection, treatment, and distribution services to the residents and businesses in the City of Napa, Silverado Country Club, the Napa County Airport and several adjacent unincorporated areas. NSD also provides recycled water service to portions of southern Napa County. Covering 20 square miles, NSD has been serving the community since November 1945. For further information about the District, please see www.NapaSan.com.