CHERYL
SUDDUTH
for WATER
CATALYST for CHANGE
Wastewater treatment is essential for protecting the public’s health, for protecting our waterways, and for recycling our water. Since being elected as a Director to the West County Wastewater District in 2018, (President 2021, Vice President 2020 & 2022), Cheryl Sudduth has been laser focused on assuring that WCW provides high quality services at fair rates to West County residents and businesses. She has worked diligently to minimize costs to ratepayers while continuing to protect our environment and find innovative ways to reuse our most precious resource (water).
Director Sudduth is a member of the Finance & Administration Committee, chairs the Infrastructure, Operations & Environmental Committee to monitor & propose global warming policies, and serves as Vice-Chair of the West County Agency Board of Directors, a JPA between WCW and the City of Richmond.
Director Sudduth's financial priorities include continuing to be a champion of policies that benefit West County including minimizing ratepayers’ costs, supporting our excellent employees, paying down pension liabilities (which has resulted in AAA Bond Rating from Standard and Poors). Director Sudduth will continue to demonstrate fiscal responsibility, equity in contracting awards & labor opportunities, while working to ensure the District maximizes its water recycling and environmental protections.
She has advocated and led the development of the District’s Climate Action Plan to meet its goal to become a carbon-neutral organization; championed its innovative “PIPES” residential lateral replacement reimbursement program which has been lauded by industry partners and legislators; encouraged recycled water use via the agency’s EBMUD partnership to Save Drinking Water & Protect the Bay; and served as an agency liaison at community events, schools, local/state/national events to educate community about FOG & wipes hazards and vital role all play in protecting & preserving our environment.
She serves as the board/agency representative Bay Area Biosolids Coalition, CA Water Environment Ass'n, SF Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, Nat’l Ass'n of Clean Water Agencies, Ass'n of Clean Water Agencies, American Water Works Ass'n, Water Educ for Latino Leaders (W.E.L.L.), Women in Water & Wastewater, Ass'n of Women in Water, Energy & Env, CA Special Districts Ass'n.
She has traveled extensively to Washington D.C. and Sacramento to lobby county, state and federal legislators to award millions of dollars to our local communities for critical infrastructure, water supply, transportation, jobs, housing, and federal building projects.
Ms. Sudduth has received a number of awards/recognition for her service including the 2021 Ella Hill Hutch Award, 2021‘Women in Leadership: Making a Difference’, 2021 Women in Water/Wastewater, 2020-2021 Top 25 Influential Muslimahs-Northern California, 2005-06 Working Mother/Working Woman ‘Woman of the Year’ Award: The Maverick, and Person of the Year Awards (City of Albany, WCCUSD), Volunteer of the Year (AUSD, WCCUSD).
"It is better to have less thunder in the mouth
and more lightning in the hand." -Apache
Do the Work...
Experience
Leadership
Vision
"Don't bargain for fish which are still in the water." - Indian proverb
"A good leader was once a good follower."
As the most experienced Leader and resident scientist on the Board of WCW, Director and current Vice President Cheryl Sudduth has built a reputation as an independent voice, working hard to find commonsense solutions to the issues facing West County, our region, state, and nation.
Since her election to the Board in 2018 and appointment to several local and state commissions, Director Sudduth has built a significant record of legislative achievements across a wide range of issues, notably relating to climate and the environment.
An Environmental Scientist, Cellular & Molecular Biologist and Biochemist, she knows first-hand how important and necessary it is to make our air, water, and environment healthier and to ensure environmental justice & climate equity for our communities. She has fought tirelessly to advocate for a seat at the table for community members who have been traditionally disparately impacted by poor environmental policies so they have a voice in the creation of better environmental policies that not only integrate climate justice principles into all facets of development planning but also implement policies that address equity and people-first principles while protecting the communities and environment. Director Sudduth knows that the greatest impact, and frankly, the most obvious solution, is to cut greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) now. She also believes we need more investment in research to better understand where and how climate degradation impacts and whom it impacts most and in what way certain frontline and fenceline communities are disparately affected.
As a member of Climate Leaders, 350 Bay Area & 350 Contra Costa + several other environmental groups incl. a community monitoring group for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Director Sudduth was a leading voice in an effort that strongly advocated for and helped pass the nation’s most health-protective air regulations & greenhouse gas reduction measures. She has worked on the Resilient by Design teams in Richmond and Oakland, the Richmond/West County watershed project, the Richmond Living Levee, studied measures to offset the impacts of biomass management & removal, and slow-onset disasters refer to things like sea-level rise, drought, unfavorable agricultural conditions, etc. on our frontline and fenceline communities, and encouraged counties and cities to adopt & fund community-centered environmental action & resilience plans.
She has long focused on improving California’s water infrastructure, supporting measures which promote management and development of water resources in ways that benefit the environment and the People while emphasizing high water quality standards, conservation, protect our natural environments, preserve our wild & scenic riverways while reserving stream flows to protect fish & other wildlife habitat, encourage off-stream storage reducing the need for additional dams, and discourage water brokering/water contracting that creates supply-demand issues and inflates distribution crises & eliminate ability for foreign buyers to purchase water contracts for CA supply (esp. given depleting supply). She also works to ensure safe and affordable drinking water for all Californians and protecting our water sources from contamination.
Doing the Work
She has championed preservation of our river basins; protection of our Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the San Francisco Bay Estuary ecosystem, Lake Tahoe, the Mojave Desert, and California’s forests; promote water conservation and reclamation of wastewater to minimize reliance on water exported through/around the Delta; set limits on the amount of water to be exported through/around the Delta; as well as ways to reduce the threat of wildfires and how to quickly recover and rebuild infrastructures following wildfires and natural disasters.
Her diligence in seeking solutions to community issues has resulted in her ability to successfully direct political and policy advocacy for the unseen, the unheard, the uncounted… building coalitions and steering committees, working with advocacy groups (Racial Justice Coalition & Racial Justice Oversight Body, Budget Justice Coalition, Climate Leaders, Latinos for Water, Latinos for Transit, Black Women Climate Leaders, Indigenous Women Warriors, NAACP Climate & Environmental Justice, CA AA Water Education Fund, Alliance 4 Girls, CASA, CWEA, CSDA, ACWA, BACWA, WELL, WIW, Bay Area Biosolids Coalition) to address climate & environmental justice, water & air quality, access to clean water & sanitation services, affordable healthcare & public transit, housing, education.
"Good behavior must start from the top."
-South Africa Proverb
“Man has responsibility, not power.” -Native American Proverb
"A good chief is like a forest: everyone can go there and get something." -the Democratic Republic of the Congo proverb
WCWD
West County Wastewater serves several communities in the West Contra Costa County, California area including the City of San Pablo, Tara Hills, northern City of Richmond subdivisions, East Richmond Heights, designated sectors of the City of Pinole, El Sobrante, Rollingwood, Bayview, and parts of unincorporated West County) The organization owns, operates, and maintains a wastewater collection system with 249 miles of gravity sewer pipelines, 17 lift stations, 6 miles of pressure force mains, and a Water Quality and Resource Recovery Plant with a capacity of 12.5 million gallons per day (mgd). All told, WCW provides wastewater services to approximately 34,000 residences and 2,450 commercial and industrial businesses, with a total population of nearly 100,000.
Celebrating 100 Years
West County Wastewater (WCW) celebrated its centennial year in December 2021. For the past century, our dedicated employees have worked around the clock to collect, treat, and dispose of wastewater safely and responsibly. We are proud of our ongoing devotion to protecting public health and the environment.
With a focus on community, culture, and climate as a platform for modernizing our agency for the next 100 years, we remain dedicated to our core values of service, trust, collaboration, leadership, accountability, and sustainability. We are honored to serve you!
Check out our centennial video here
Responsible Wastewater Management
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ~Chinese proverb
Responsible wastewater collection, treatment and disposal prevents the spread of disease, keeping our neighborhoods healthy and stopping raw sewage from entering the environment, including the San Francisco Bay. The WCW team keeps sewage flowing away from homes and businesses by maintaining and monitoring the system and providing emergency response to overflows within our service area.
WCW’s collection and treatment process meets all state and federal regulations. We routinely inspect public pipes and manholes in the community to ensure they are clean and in working order, keeping wastewater flowing away from homes and businesses to the treatment plant.
Lab technicians regularly collect and perform tests on more than 600 samples a year to ensure viruses, bacteria and other contaminants are not present in treated wastewater discharge. WCW's lab analyzes samples of treated wastewater with tests ranging from cyanide, metals, and polychlorinated biphenlys (PCBs) to bioassays using juvenile fish. We send most of our treated wastewater to be used as recycled water for industrial purposes such as heating & cooling buildings. This saves our valuable drinking water.
WCW has received many honors and awards for its efforts to protect public health and keep pollutants. Our Water Quality and Resource Recovery Plant has won the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) Peak Performance Award for 21 years in a row as well as the corresponding Platinum 17 Award – a testament to our dedication to protecting local waters and the environment.
WCW is leading the way in energy efficiency and reducing GHG in its wastewater & water resource recovery processes.
This project represents not only an historic investment for the West County community, it is also considered to be one of the most impactful energy, infrastructure, and process improvement programs in the country.
The $90M investment will reduce West County Wastewater’s overall greenhouse gas emissions by 93% at our Richmond Water Quality and Resource Recovery Plant and is expected to save more than $83M over the project’s lifetime.
WCW’s project, designed to improve wastewater treatment and biosolids handling, is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 93% and save over $83 million over the project’s lifetime.
June 8, 2022
West County Wastewater (WCW), based in Richmond, Calif., has announced plans for a comprehensive energy, infrastructure, and process improvement project designed to significantly reduce the organization's carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions.
The infrastructure upgrade project could reduce West County Wastewater's overall greenhouse gas emissions by 93 percent at WCW's Water Quality and Resource Recovery Plant and is expected to save more than $83 million over the project's lifetime.
"To us, community and environmental stewardship is about more than providing wastewater services," said Andrew Clough, WCW deputy general manager. "It is about working together to encourage and employ healthy industry and environmental practices that will benefit the region, our communities, and our ecosystem for years ahead."
Led by low-carbon energy company ENGIE North America, the initiative will include significant upgrades to WCW's Water Quality and Resource Recovery Plant: including two new digesters, an addition of 1.1 megawatts (MW) of solar power generation, a thermal sludge drying system, and solids dewatering, among other improvements.
"This project is one of the most impactful energy, infrastructure, and process improvement programs in the United States," said Stefaan Sercu, managing director at ENGIE North America. "Our alliance with WCW will serve as a proof point for the benefits of the comprehensive energy collaboration approach. Wastewater treatment is an especially energy-demanding operation — but wastewater districts that take advantage of ENGIE's expertise at the energy-water nexus can make the improvements necessary for the reliability of their equipment, safety of the local community, and environmental sustainability."
Historically, biosolids produced by WCW have been sent to landfill due to the fact they did not meet the high-quality standards required for beneficial reuse. By generating Class A biosolids, suitable for agricultural and other reclamation uses, these upgrades would eliminate organic material being sent to landfill. This will prepare the organization for new regulations and reduce ongoing disposal costs. The project will also result in a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the decomposition of sludge in the landfills.
ENGIE will implement the plant improvements and maintain the installed equipment over the next 20 years under an energy savings performance contract. ENGIE is targeting a 4.2 million kWh reduction in WCW's annual energy use.
The scope of the project comprises a 1.1 MW solar power system, LED lighting, electric vehicle charging stations and wastewater treatment plant upgrades including a new grit separation system, rotary drum thickeners, a high efficiency aeration blower, new digesters, a 450 kW cogeneration system powered by biogas from the digester, a sludge dewatering system, a sludge thermal dryer system, and equalization basins. Together, these systems' onsite generation will meet close to 100 percent of the district's facilities and wastewater treatment electricity needs.
Water
is
Never Wasted...
What is wastewater?
Wastewater (or sewage) is the byproduct of the many ways we use water, including household uses like showering, dishwashing, laundry, cooking, and, of course, flushing the toilet. There are also industrial and commercial water usage including processes, products, & cleaning or rinsing of parts. After water has been used, it enters the wastewater stream, and flows to the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to be treated and resourced back to the community for reuse or to the natural environment.
Why treat wastewater?
Bottom line: in order to protect the public's health and our environment, we must remove the many pollutants and toxins that are in the water after it has been used, and contaminated, by our community members and businesses. If we leave the used water untreated, these pollutants would not only negatively affect our water and environment, it would cause a public health emergency due to the types of toxins present in the water.
For example, organic matter found in untreated water can cause oxygen depletion in our lakes, rivers, streams, and other bodies of water and this type of biological decomposition of organics could result in foul odors and worse - killing our fish, plants, & other water species.
Some nutrients in wastewater, such as phosphorus, can cause premature aging of our lakes, known as eutrophication. These nutrients are isolated during the treatment process.
As well, proper wastewater treatment will eliminate waterborne diseases and prevent pollutants from entering our water streams, which could have devastating toxic effects on our aquatic life and community members' health.
How do we collect the wastewater?
Sewer collection systems are designed so that the wastewater flows to a centralized treatment location. WCW’s collection system is comprised of sewer pipes ranging in diameter of 8-inches to 24-inches. As the pipes get closer to the treatment facility the pipes become larger in diameter. Where gravity systems are not practical, pumping stations are used to lift the wastewater and pump it to a point where it will flow by gravity. WCW has 17 lift stations.
WCW’s owns, operates, and maintains a wastewater collection system with 249 miles of gravity sewer pipelines and 6 miles of pressure force mains that collect wastewater from approximately 34,000 residences and 2,450 commercial and industrial businesses, with a total population of nearly 100,000. Its Water Quality and Resource Recovery Plant located in Richmond (California) has a capacity of 12.5 million gallons per day (mgd).
WCW treats wastewater to meet stringent state and federal standards and coordinate with local partners, including EBMUD and City of Richmond to recycle, reuse, produce renewable energy from the collected wastewater, or we release it to the Bay.
What happens after wastewater is collected?
The wastewater from West County communities (City of San Pablo, Tara Hills, northern Richmond subdivisions, East Richmond Heights, designated sectors of the City of Pinole, El Sobrante, Rollingwood, Bayview, and parts of the unincorporated county) continues to flow through the collection system and eventually reaches the WCWD Water Quality and Resource Recovery Plant in Richmond. Upon reaching the plant, the flow first encounters preliminary treatment where larger items are removed. Preliminary Treatment is followed by Primary Treatment where smaller items that either float to the surface or settle to the bottom are removed. The wastewater then flows to Secondary Treatment where the water passes over a biological filter and chemicals are added to promote the finer particles to settle out. The solids or “sludge” removed from the wastewater stream also needs to be treated. On average, WCW provides treatment for a maximum flow of 12.5 million gallons per day (MGD).
Where do all the solids go?
Solids that settle out in the primary and secondary clarifiers are referred to as sludge. Sludge that has been processed to reduce disease-causing organisms is referred to as biosolids. Sludge is the byproduct of treating the liquid wastewater. Proper solids handling is of paramount importance. At our wastewater treatment plant, sludge is pumped to a gravity thickener, treated to reduce odors, and dewatered. The dewatered solids are treated using liquid lime for stabilization and stored in a large tank.
We have been working in collaboration with EBMUD to transform sewage and biosolids and other organic wastes into green energy, nutrient-rich soil conditioner, and recycled water. This helps to produce more renewable energy to meet onsite power demands.
Where does the water go after treatment?
The treated wastewater is referred to as effluent. WCWD’s effluent is discharged to the Bay. Before the effluent is discharged, it undergoes a process to reduce disease-causing organisms called disinfection.
Chlorination is used to disinfect the water prior to discharge. Chlorination involves injecting chlorine into the effluent then holding it in a contact tank for 20 to 40 minutes. Chlorine can harmful to fish and other aquatic life. After the water has been held in contact with the chlorine, it is then dechlorinated before testing and discharge. Testing the effluent before discharge provides assurance that the wastewater has been properly treated and meets all the requirements to be released to the river.
A state-issued permit establishes the level of pollutants allowed that will be protective of the public health and the environment. The ability of the receiving water to remain unharmed is a major factor in setting these limits. The limitations are established in a public permit issuance process that allows anyone to comment on or object to the issuance of the permit.
Recycled Water
Water is an invaluable, irreplaceable natural resource. Every one of us relies on clean, safe water to drink, to clean, to cook, and for many of our daily activities. Protecting our community’s drinking water is of paramount importance.
The work we have accomplished these past few years to solidify our relationship with community partners, including:
-
a 2020 update to the recycled water agreement with EBMUD to allow for an increase in the amount of wastewater that can be transferred to EBMUD for reuse to 12.5 million gallons per day – an agreement which has been in place since 1990; and
-
Completing system improvements and building an advanced wastewater treatment facility to upgrade the quality of the treated wastewater and support the transfer of the water to EBMUD, allowing it to be reused; and
-
Updating water quality criteria and standards; and
-
Significantly increasing the amount of treated wastewater used as recycled water over the years, keeping discharged water out of the San Francisco Bay and saving drinking water for the local community.
Making treated water available for use as recycled water ensures we have an adequate supply of drinking water for our local communities. Today, nearly all of our treated discharged water is sent to EBMUD for industrial use in cooling towers and boilers. We all play a vital role in helping California sustainably and responsibly manage our water resources and using recycled water for industrial and irrigation purposes is a substantial piece of conservation. It not only protects our natural waters by reducing the amount released into the San Francisco Bay, it also reduces/eliminates the energy required to pump water to the ocean.
Resource Recovery
In our 2019/20 strategic plan, we also committed to finding innovative resource recovery practices to protect and preserve the environment:
-
Produce biogas to power an engine-driven blower that supplies process air to the aeration basins.
-
Dry and send biosolids for use as an alternative daily cover at a nearby landfill.
-
House a 1-megawatt photovoltaic solar facility on our property, which supplies one-third of the Water Quality and Resource Recovery Plant’s power demand.
Wastewater
Lingo 101
In wastewater vernacular, there are acronyms for many processes. Listed are some of the most common terms:
Aerobic: A process that requires dissolved oxygen to operate properly. The microorganisms need the oxygen to “eat” the food properly.
Anaerobic: A process that can operate or needs to operate without oxygen being present. A good example is an anaerobic digester used for solids handling.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand Test (BOD5): A test that measures the oxygen-consuming substances or the organic strength of a sample of wastewater. It provides information on the organic load or how much “food” there will be for organisms. The load can be either to a treatment plant unit or to a receiving water body.
Clarifier or settling tank: Tanks designed for the physical separation of wastewater floatable solids and settleable solids. These two terms are generally used interchangeably.
Disinfection: Killing disease-causing organisms, differing from sterilization, a process which kills all organisms.
Dissolved Oxygen Test (DO): A test usually performed by an electronic meter that measures the amount of oxygen dissolved in a sample of water. The sample may have been from natural waters or from a part of the sewage treatment process. It is important because many of the treatment processes require oxygen (aerobic) to operate properly.
Too much oxygen can mean that money is wasted through excess energy consumption to provide the oxygen, which is relatively insoluble in water. It is important in natural waters because fish and other desirable aquatic life are just as dependent on oxygen as people.
Effluent: Wastewater or other liquid, partially or completely treated, flowing from a reservoir, basin, treatment process, or treatment plant.
Influent: Wastewater or other liquid flowing into a reservoir, basin, or treatment plant.
Parts per million (ppm) or milligrams per liter (mg/L): A measurement of how much of a substance is contained in water. These terms refer to the results of analyses such as TSS, BOD5, or DO. These terms are used interchangeably and mean exactly the same thing.
Total Suspended Solids (TSS): Particles that are suspended in water (not dissolved) This test measures by weight how much particulate material is contained in water samples by filtering the sample through a special filter.