The San Marino City Council decided last week to move forward with a plan to maintain and upgrade sewer lift system stations that contribute to the city’s sewage collection system, ultimately designating about $2.65 million to construction costs for the effort.
Parks and Public Works Director Amber Shah, who also serves as city engineer, presented a detailed report on Jan. 10 outlining the department’s recommendations for the Lift Station Improvement Project, which centers around three city-owned sewer lift stations in need of repair.
San Marino operates and maintains its own sewage collection system, consisting of about 50 miles of “gravity pipeline,” or underground pipes that allows raw wastewater to flow freely a regional wastewater treatment plant.
Maintaining and keeping the sewer lift stations functioning properly is crucial even if they mostly go unnoticed, Shah said.
The three sewer lift stations in need of maintenance are in neighborhoods at 1041 Avondale Road, 920 Orlando Place and 2330 Monterey Road.
“The sewer lift stations are not something our general public, or anyone for that matter, might give much thought to or even know exist, but the critical nature of that infrastructure and what damage it could cause if it fails is very important,” explained Shah, who noted that if there were to be sewage overflow because of a sewer lift station failure, the consequences would be sizeable.
“The repair necessary to pump it out and clean it up and treat those homes and properties damaged would be significant, so that’s obviously what we are trying to avoid here in recommending this project move forward.”
To be compliant with state regulations, the city is required to develop, implement and fund a Sewer System Management Plan, which establishes minimum requirements to prevent sanitary sewer overflows. In conjunction with the completion of the city’s 2019 SSMP, a sewer condition report was also established to identify priority projects for inclusion in the city’s Capital Improvement Plan and to ensure reliability of the sewer system. As a result, rehabilitation of all three sewer lift stations was recommended based on the deficiencies and issues identified at each site in the report.
Shah defined sewer lift stations as facilities designed to move wastewater from lower to higher elevations. If it cannot, the system might result in excessive excavation depths and higher sewer construction costs.
In 2021, the Council awarded a contract to construction management company Dudek to upgrade all three of the city’s wastewater lift stations, which have been a recurring part of the Capital Improvement Plan since 2018-19. The improvements were intended to modernize each facility, improve operations, improve reliability, increase efficiency and provide uniformity in lift station controls and equipment.
A year later, in 2022, the Council approved an amendment to extend the agreement term through 2023. Later that year, following a third-party consultant review, Council passed another amendment to revise the scope of the contract and resolve two design issues critical to the future functionality of the sewer lift stations. The design issues were originally identified by the Dudek team during the preliminary design phase but were excluded per the direction of former staff.
At that point in the process, the recommended design changes included full pump control panel replacements at each station. This would increase the longevity of the lift stations and significantly reduce the chance of the city having to revisit each one for additional rehabilitation in the next few years. A full replacement of the Orlando Place lift station’s outdated wet well structure was also recommended to allow easier access for removal and reinstallation of pumping units during routine maintenance and emergency scenarios.
Among its decisions, the Council voted to award a contract to CWS Systems Inc. for about $2.28 million, a construction management and inspection services contract to Z&K Consultants for $230,000, and a contract with Dudek for $45,500. Council also voted to authorize the Parks and Public Works director and city engineer to approve contract change orders and other contingencies not to exceed $100,000.
Significant lead times on orders for construction exist, Shah said, with work not expected to begin until late 2024 due to the supply chain delays. Once work commences, the project is expected to take 200 working days to complete upgrades at all three sewer lift stations — 80 days at Avondale Road, 70 days at Orlando Place and 50 days at Monterey Road. Additionally, each site will be constructed independently and sequentially, beginning with the Avondale Road location. Construction is projected to conclude by mid-to-late 2025.
First published in the Jan. 18 issue of the San Marino Tribune
