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City of Sonora and Tuolumne County Representatives, Tribal partners, community leaders, project partners, and neighboring districts joined the Tuolumne Utilities District (TUD) Board of Directors and staff for a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the new Sonora Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility (SRWWTF).
“This state-of-the-art facility represents a major investment in our community’s future and our commitment to environmental sustainability,” said TUD General Manager, Don Perkins. “It will ensure we have the infrastructure in place to meet current and future wastewater treatment needs. We are proud to mark the completion of the Sonora Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility, a testament to our ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and community well-being.”
The project began in 2021 with the construction of a new wastewater treatment facility capable of treating an average of 2 million gallons of wastewater per day. The new $42 million facility replaces an outdated plant built in the 1970s and marks a major milestone in TUD’s commitment to providing efficient and sustainable wastewater management solutions for the community.
The project included a new headworks screening and grit removal system, secondary treatment process consisting of rehabilitation, and conversion of existing secondary anaerobic digesters to aerobic digesters, new sludge screw press for solids dewatering, emergency standby power, a new administrative/operations building, and eventually a new septage receiving facility. The project site was strategically contained within the footprint of the existing treatment plant at Southgate Drive.
The majority of the project cost was covered by a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant/loan package which included over $8.5 million in grant dollars and approximately $24.9 million in low-interest loans. TUD contributed approximately $8.8 million of its own wastewater reserves.
