The Orange County Sanitation District pioneered a new biosolids management system in 1997 that led to them becoming the first agency certified by the National Biosolids Partnership in 2003. They work to collect, treat wastewater, and recycle approximately 250,000 tons of biosolids per year for the 2.6 million residents they serve. They strive to use sustainable biosolids recycling options while protecting public health and the environment.

1. In 1997, the Orange County Sanitation
District set out to do something different.
We worked with other wastewater
treatment plants across the country
and the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency to pioneer a new program—
a biosolids management system. Six
years later, we became the first agency
in the nation certified by the National
Biosolids Partnership. Today, over
30 other agencies join us.
We are proud of our accomplishment,
proud of our team, and proud to say
this is just the beginning.
Orange County Sanitation District staff
and affiliated contractors work hard every
day for the 2.6 million residents we serve
by collecting and treating wastewater and
recycling approximately 250,000 tons of
biosolids a year.
This is a review of how we work to
protect the environment and public health
by balancing our fiscal responsibility with
our goal of recycling our biosolids using
sustainable options.
Quality insists onQuality insists on
good communicationgood communication
Biosolids management
Orange County Sanitation District
inside and out
Quality counts,
April 2011Quality counts, inside and out © OCSD 2011
Orange County Sanitation District • 10844 Ellis Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA 92708 • (714) 962-2411 • www.ocsd.com
Face-to-face communication remains the best
way to hear and be heard; however, the way
people relate to each other continues to change.
With more than half of all United States adults
regularly participating in social networking,
this new method of communication increases
our interaction with the public in positive ways
and enables more people to participate in
the conversation. It is a very powerful way for
government agencies to connect with citizens.
We welcome the change and participate in social
networking using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
These social network sites allow us to disseminate
information in a transparent and rapid fashion
to a much broader segment of the public than
we could have imagined five years ago.
Our biosolids policy
OCSD strives to recycle its biosolids
using sustainable options while protecting
public health and the environment.
Certified
Biosolids Program
Since 2003
More OCSD biosolids
information, including our
annual compliance reports,
audits, and factsheets are
available on www.ocsd.com.
Sign up for e-mail updates
of the latest biosolids news
under E-Notify.
Follow OCSD on
@ OCSanitationDistrict
@ OCSD_PIO
on Channel 2OCSD

2. Quality Team
Quality counts, inside and out
quality of solids, save time and transportation
costs, and increase maintenance safety.
Truck driver Gilberto Bernabe
passed three consecutive OCSD inspections
over two years making the District's honor
roll. Gilberto is a model driver who follows
safety protocols. He makes certain his truck
is clean, well maintained, and on time.
The drivers are a key part of the biosolids
program. We are leading the industry by
setting high standards for our contracted
biosolids haulers. Senior Environmental
Specialist Leyla Perez is our biosolids inspector.
She inspects and trains the truck drivers on
our requirements and serves as the liaison
between the operators and contractors.
She audits the preventive maintenance
programs required for all contractors and
Quality counts on commitment and
oversight
performs inspections to ensure contractors
Recently, Shaen was struggling to make
ends meet with an operational slump in solids
production. We worked closely with him to
set a fair minimum biosolids tonnage that
would keep his operation viable. Working
out a solution with Shaen was good for our
bottom-line too. We maintained a low-cost,
high quality, and reliable contractor, saving
about $300,000 in the process.
Building strong relationships is a vital part of
our biosolids program. We firmly believe that
we must consider input from our neighbors,
regulators, contractors, field personnel, and
any other interested parties and communicate
openly and honestly.
Michael Wardell is a KEMA Registered Quality
certification environmental auditor. KEMA
Registered Quality has a worldwide reputation
and more than 80 years of experience with
Quality mandates validation
independent approval testing and the
award of certificates. He spends three to
five days annually at our treatment plants
and at our contractor sites interviewing,
checking, and verifying all the various aspects
involved in our biosolids program. His goal is
to determine that our program conforms to
all the expectations and requirements of the
National Biosolids Partnership. Michael verifies
we are doing what we said we would do,
when we said we would do it and how we
said we would do it.
We are extremely proud of the rigorous work
we’ve put into our program over the last
decade and a half. Close oversight of our
contractors paid off and set us apart from
other organizations.
meet these standards. Leyla conducts periodic
safety checks and one-on-one training of
drivers in both English and Spanish to help
ensure our biosolids safely reach their final
destination.
We insist that our contractors minimize the
odor and reduce the impacts on neighbors
near our sites. It is critical that our contractors
hold our same values. Leyla is our eyes, ears,
and nose on the ground to help prevent and
resolve problems.
Shaen Magan is another critical part of
our team. He owns Tule Ranch, a biosolids
management company that farms with our
biosolids in Arizona.
Shaen has always been extremely reliable,
flexible and accommodating during OCSD’s
peaks and lows in biosolids production and
through wet weather events.
Quality requires strong relationships
Mike Zedek
OCSD source control engineer
Jeff “Woody” Woodward
OCSD senior plant operator
Gilberto Bernabe
biosolids truckdriver
Leyla Perez
OCSD senior environmental specialist
Shaen Magan
Tule Ranch owner
Michael Wardell
KEMA environmental auditor
Quality thrives with passion and commitment
We believe that the services we provide
must exceed the public’s expectation to
ensure quality. Wastewater treatment is an
industry that usually flies under the public’s
radar until something goes wrong. That
means it is even more necessary to do it
right even if it seems no one is looking.
We built flexibility into our long-range
biosolids management plan. We applied
the same practices that good investors
use to minimize risk through their
diverse portfolios.
To ensure good diversity in our end-use
portfolio, we strive to employ at least three
Quality calls for a flexible plan
Quality begins with our team – the men
and women who strive for perfection in
all areas of our operation. We require
the highest passion and commitment to
excellence from each critical link in our
biosolids quality control process, from
our talented operators, licensed laboratory
scientists, trained drivers, and dedicated
inspectors to our contractors in California
and Arizona.
We keep a close eye on our biosolids, inside
our treatment plants and outside on the
streets and highways. We care about how
contractors transport and use our materials
from our plants to their facilities and fields.
We take great care beginning to end.
Meet our
technologies (synthetic coal production
technology, aerated static pile and windrow
composting, and farmland application);
three markets (synthetic coal, compost in
Central Valley, compost in Arizona, and
farming with biosolids in Arizona); and
three contractors (EnerTech, Synagro, and
Tule Ranch). We also have four biosolids
management sites (San Bernardino and
Kern counties in California, and La Paz
and Yuma counties in Arizona).
Quality begins at the source
The cleaner the water is when it comes
to our facilities, the less it costs to treat.
Therefore, our quality control starts before
the wastewater enters the sewer system.
As a result, the water coming into our
treatment plants meets drinking water
standards for heavy metals.
Our source control engineers and inspectors
issue and enforce industrial discharge permits
by routinely inspecting businesses and
sampling industrial discharges. All of our
permit holders must frequently submit
certified laboratory data to us to prove they
meet our stringent requirements.
Mike Zedek, a 21-year District employee
and source control engineer, explains why
we utilize the latest geographic information
system technologies for sewer flow,
demographics and sampling data to track
down violators.
Quality demands the right skills
Our highly trained operators oversee the
treatment plants and are a critical link in
our quality control process.
Jeff “Woody” Woodward, a 20-year District
employee and senior plant operator, is always
amazed by the amount of work that gets
done on a daily basis. “There is so much to
do from planning scheduled maintenance,
coordinating isolations and construction
projects, to running digesters in manual
mode for research projects,” smiles Woody.
Operating equipment, keeping the
biosolids trucks loading safely, providing
input to facility design teams, and imparting
knowledge to the next generation of
operators are all essential elements of his
daily job.
Woody is currently experimenting with a new
polymer feed system that could improve the
We can target problem
areas, and then work
with industry to eliminate
discharge violations and
provide complete training
courses for industrial
pretreatment operators.
I have a great team,
including maintenance
and instrumentation.
They give me the flexibility
I need, and I try hard
to accommodate their
preventive maintenance
schedules. We have a
shared goal—keep the
equipment running well.
The Sanitation District is
much more involved in my
day-to-day operations than
any of my other customers.
They check in to see how
things are going. When I
need something, they are
very responsive. They have
helped improve how I do
business.
The Orange County
Sanitation District’s
biosolids contractor
oversight program is
the best I have seen
nationwide.
We demand that our
contractors strive to
be good neighbors and
build relationships with
the local community.
They recognize my hard
work and how serious I
take my job. I appreciate
them caring about us guys
out hauling the biosolids
from here to there every
day. My job is important.

3. In 1997, the Orange County Sanitation
District set out to do something different.
We worked with other wastewater
treatment plants across the country
and the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency to pioneer a new program—
a biosolids management system. Six
years later, we became the first agency
in the nation certified by the National
Biosolids Partnership. Today, over
30 other agencies join us.
We are proud of our accomplishment,
proud of our team, and proud to say
this is just the beginning.
Orange County Sanitation District staff
and affiliated contractors work hard every
day for the 2.6 million residents we serve
by collecting and treating wastewater and
recycling approximately 250,000 tons of
biosolids a year.
This is a review of how we work to
protect the environment and public health
by balancing our fiscal responsibility with
our goal of recycling our biosolids using
sustainable options.
Quality insists onQuality insists on
good communicationgood communication
Biosolids management
Orange County Sanitation District
inside and out
Quality counts,
April 2011Quality counts, inside and out © OCSD 2011
Orange County Sanitation District • 10844 Ellis Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA 92708 • (714) 962-2411 • www.ocsd.com
Face-to-face communication remains the best
way to hear and be heard; however, the way
people relate to each other continues to change.
With more than half of all United States adults
regularly participating in social networking,
this new method of communication increases
our interaction with the public in positive ways
and enables more people to participate in
the conversation. It is a very powerful way for
government agencies to connect with citizens.
We welcome the change and participate in social
networking using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
These social network sites allow us to disseminate
information in a transparent and rapid fashion
to a much broader segment of the public than
we could have imagined five years ago.
Our biosolids policy
OCSD strives to recycle its biosolids
using sustainable options while protecting
public health and the environment.
Certified
Biosolids Program
Since 2003
More OCSD biosolids
information, including our
annual compliance reports,
audits, and factsheets are
available on www.ocsd.com.
Sign up for e-mail updates
of the latest biosolids news
under E-Notify.
Follow OCSD on
@ OCSanitationDistrict
@ OCSD_PIO
on Channel 2OCSD

4. Where does it all go?
Diversity in products, markets, locations, and contractors
is key to OCSD’s biosolids sustainability formula.
As a precaution, we maintain fail-safe back-up options
equal to 14 times (1400%) our daily production.
The ups and downs
of cleaner water
p e r f o r m a n c e
r e p o r t
2011
April 2012
Biosolids
Management
Program
1 of 2
Farmland
Application
29%
Compost
38%
33%
Synthetic
Coal
Exceeding our goals
Our goal this past year was to recycle 95% of our
biosolids; we recycled 100%. In November, our Board
revised that goal to 88% to allow us more flexibility
during peak solids production (through 2017).
This year, we plan to test landfill options by
sending one load (up to 4 max) a day to a local
Orange County landfill.
Lower costs translate
to more savings
This year, we came in under budget by 3%. We saved approximately $870,000
thanks to a negotiated price reduction with our existing EnerTech contract. The
reduction occurred because EnerTech did not meet required benchmarks during
their commissioning process.
Operational changes and new
construction will produce cleaner
water and change the amount
of biosolids we produce
each day.
26% diverted to farm land application
2011 2013 2017
h
h
h
h
Biosolids Recycled:
268,000 tons
735 tons per day
29 truckloads per day
Annual Costs:
$17.8 million (fiscal year 2010-11)
$67.80 per wet ton (average)
Peak solids production adds 1,000 more trucks on the road per year.
More details in Annual
Compliance Report on
ocsewers.com/503 or
ocsewers.com/biosolids

5. *Based on an informal review
of OCSD biosolids production and
recycling calculated (using published
BEAM model PN 1432 Canadian
Council of Ministry and
Environment).
Recycling our biosolids
(putting carbon back into soil,
so plants can grow) equals
taking almost 2000 cars off
the road or over 1 million
gallons of gas per year!*
OCSD Graduates
Drivers to Honor Roll
A select group of 13 drivers (11% of active drivers) graduated to OCSD’s new “honor roll.”
These drivers sucessfully passed at least three OCSD hauler inspections.
“The haulers are the face of our program. We see
them every day on our local streets and highways.
We ensure public safety by verifying the drivers and
trucks are knowledgeable and prepared,” explains
biosolids truck inspector Leyla Perez. She performs
at least 20 inspections per quarter.
The national average for motor vehicle accidents is 1 in 100.
Our average is 1 in 5000.
8,600 unique visits/mo., ocsd.com
165 “Like” us on Facebook
619 Twitter Followers, 400 Tweets
19 Biosolids Articles (web)
23 Biosolids Inquiries
1 Public Opinion Survey
- Responses: 34
5 Stakeholder Newsletters
430 Subscribers
Avg. % Open: 27%
(industry avg. 25%)
Avg. % Click: 25%
(industry avg. 15%)
Responses: 17
Building new and better relationships
21 OCSD Contractor
Facilities Inspections
Resulted in 20 findings which were all
resolved by contractors.
Certified Compliance
makes Quality Product!
Metals average 90% under regulatory limits.
404 different constituents monitored.
Digester holding time is 15 days at 95° F to
remove pathogens.
Biosolids Contractor
Facilities Oversight
Looking
forward
Contracts:
In February 2012, OCSD
issued a request for proposal for
land application and landfill to
replace an existing contract that
will expire in December 2012.
2 of 2
Building a better way
State plant of the year
In April 2011, we received the
prestigious 2010 California
Water Environment
Association (CWEA) “Plant
of the Year” award for our
Fountain Valley Reclamation
Plant No. 1. The award
recognizes our facility for
permit compliance, innovative
practices, cost effectiveness,
and superior plant operations.
The new headwork’s facility
at Plant 2 is improving trash
removal by 50%. Resulting
in cost savings and better
quality biosolids.
Supported our highest and lowest ranked
biosolids priorities.
Complaints Regulatory
Violations
South Kern
Composting 13 2
Arizona Soils
Composting 14 0
Tule Ranch Arizona 0 0
EnerTech
(including farm) 0 0
Not all complaints can be verified as facility-related.