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Introduction
Goleta Sanitary District has a permit to discharge treated wastewater under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, (NPDES). This permit consists of waste discharge requirements specifying the amount of wastewater that can be discharged, sampling frequency, the types of testing and monitoring and sets limits of pollutant concentrations.
The Goleta Sanitary District’s permit is a 301 (h) waiver permit and is jointly issued by the U.S. EPA and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board. A 301(h) waiver permit is a specific type of permit that is defined under the Clean Water Act and allows less than a full secondary treated wastewater to be discharged to ocean waters. An NPDES permit must be renewed every five years. The Goleta Sanitary District submitted an application to renew its discharge permit in May 2009 and the new permit became effective September 2010.
Goleta Sanitary District uses what is called a blended secondary treatment process. It maintains the environment in a clean and healthful condition. It also requires a less costly facility, is more economical to operate, and produces less land and air pollution than the full secondary process.
 Preliminary Treatment Primary Treatment Our Primary Treatment process consists of the screened sedimentation tanks where solids that settle to the bottom or float to the top are collected and removed from the water.  Secondary Treatment A portion of the primary treated wastewater is sent to the secondary treatment process, which begins in the bio-filter. Here microorganisms literally consume the dissolved organic material in the wastewater. After bio-filtration, the water flows by gravity to another sedimentation tank where biological action causes solids to clump together and settle to the bottom of the tank for removal. The clear and clean surface water is secondary effluent. Blending and Discharge Primary and Secondary treated wastewater are first blended, and then chlorine is added to disinfect it and kill any remaining bacteria. The wastewater is then de-chlorinated to protect ocean life, is transported through a pipeline a mile out to sea, and safely discharged into the ocean environment.
Recycled wastewater is produced by treating secondary effluent to the tertiary level. Secondary treated water is mixed with special chemicals that cause remaining particles to clump together. It is then filtered with carbon, and finally disinfected with chlorine to kill bacteria. Recycled water is used for irrigation, saving precious drinking water.
The solids from the wastewater treatment process are stabilized by treating them in a heated anaerobic digester for about six weeks. The stabilized solids are then treated in settling basins over a two-year period. Solids are dried in several stages to kill off any remaining bacteria. The end product has a dark, earthy color, is completely dry, nearly odorless and is available free to the public as a useful soil amendment. Please note - due to construction, Biosolids are currently unavailable to the public. Process Diagram
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