San Diego Region - International Wastewater Treatment Plant

The South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (SBIWTP) is owned and administered by the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) and is operated and maintained under contract by a private consultant. The SBIWTP was built in 1996 on a 75-acre site near the international boundary in the United States immediately north of the City of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico and is located at 2995 Clearwater Way, San Diego, CA 92154.

The SBIWTP treats an average daily flow of 25 million gallons per day (mgd) of raw sewage and other wastewater flows originating from Tijuana consisting of 1) sewage flows exceeding the capacity of Tijuana's sewage treatment and conveyance facilities and 2) transboundary flows collected from five canyon collectors. The five collectors are located immediately north of the international boundary at Silva Drain Canyon, Canyon del Sol, Stewarts Drain, Goat Canyon, and Smugglers Gulch . These canyons are all tributaries to the Tijuana River and estuary.

In 1996, US IBWC, with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), completed the advanced primary treatment components of the IWTP. In 2010, an activated sludge treatment component was added to the IWTP to provide secondary treatment.

Along with secondary treated wastewater from the City of San Diego's South Bay Water Reclamation Facility, the SBIWTP discharges secondary treated wastewater to the South Bay Ocean Outfall, which extends westward into the ocean approximately 23,600 feet from the mouth of the Tijuana River and terminates in a diffuser-wye structure approximately 95 feet below sea level.

The SBIWTP's discharge to the Pacific Ocean through the South Bay Ocean Outfall is currently regulated under Order No. R9-2014-0009, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit No. CA0108928, Waste Discharge Requirements for the International Boundary and Water Commission U.S. Section International Wastewater Treatment Plant Discharge to the Pacific Ocean Though the South Bay Ocean Outfall San Diego County. Order No. 96-50 was adopted on November 14, 1996. Order No. 96-50 expired on October 10, 2001 but remains in effect under an administrative extension until July 31, 2014.

Starting August 1, 2014,the IWTP's discharge to the Pacific Ocean via the South Bay Ocean Outfall will be regulated under Order No. R9-2014-0009, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit No. CA0108928, Waste Discharge Requirements for the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, Discharge to the Pacific Ocean Via the South Bay Ocean Outfall. Order No. R9-2014-0009 was adopted on June 26, 2014.

NPDES Permit

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