The nearly 600 million dollar renovation is part of San Mateo’s billion-dollar Clean Water Program. It kicked off in 2015. That's when a cease and desist order from the state demanded that San Mateo stop sewage from overflowing into the San Francisco Bay.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, crumbling infrastructure and sewage spills are to blame for unacceptable levels of bacteria on the Bay Area’s shorelines.
Officials hope that the new plant will make the Bay cleaner. It will process up to 78 million gallons of wastewater a day, serving nearly 200,000 people.
Developers say it will prevent flooding during heavy storms, and it’s one of the most sustainable facilities in the country. Operations should begin in several weeks.
