Sandy Clean Waters

Modernizing Infrastructure and Protecting Rivers

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Sandy is a growing community with serious wastewater challenges. Our community has outgrown our decades-old wastewater system, and we have been mandated by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to improve our infrastructure to address these challenges.

In response, Sandy established the Sandy Clean Waters project. The goals of Sandy Clean Waters are:

Protect the environment. The current wastewater plant is experiencing chronic permit violations which pollute Tickle Creek. Improvements to the existing plant and building a new treatment plant will help Sandy responsibly steward the environment.

Prepare for the future of Sandy. We need to make investments now to ensure that reliable and resilient infrastructure is available for future generations of our fast growing community.

HOW IS SANDY GOING TO ACHIEVE OUR CLEAN WATERS GOALS?

We are following 4 strategies, all of which are underway and on track for completion by 2026:

Reducing flows of wastewater to the treatment plant:
- Pausing new sewer connection applications: The City of Sandy is currently not accepting new land use applications that propose new sewer connections. Slowing the rate of new connections will give the sewer system improvements time to catch up with the community’s growth and aging infrastructure. This step is being taken in coordination with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of ongoing enforcement proceedings under the Clean Water Act.
- Fixing our aging sewer pipes: As sewer pipes get older, they weaken, which allows rainwater and groundwater into the sewers that mix with wastewater. In wet weather our aging pipes get filled with groundwater and stormwater, resulting in flows that overwhelm our treatment plant. This problem is called ‘inflow and infiltration.’ Reducing the amount of rainwater and groundwater entering the sewers is the first step in the City’s plan to improve the wastewater system. This work is underway and will be completed in 2023.

Upgrading Sandy’s existing treatment plant: the plant is aging, has limited capacity, and is not performing up to environmental standards. We are upgrading the plant to increase capacity and performance. Construction began in 2021 and will be completed in 2022.
Expanding Sandy’s wastewater system capacity: we need to add additional capacity to the system, beyond the upgrades to the existing treatment plant. This will include adding new treatment infrastructure to process higher volumes of water, and establishing an alternative location to discharge the treated clean water because of the limited size of Tickle Creek.
Maintaining affordable sewer rates for Sandy residents: To help pay for the project and keep rates affordable we have sought and received several low-interest loans and grants. Sandy secured a $14.7 million grant through the American Rescue Plan Act, $16.5 million in low-interest loans for Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and millions in low-interest federal WIFIA loans.