Metropolitan Waste Water Reclamation Project Collection

Collection

Identifier: MS-0161

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Metropolitan Waste Water Reclamation Project Collection dates from 1952-1967. It consists solely of paper records, and documents the city's process of determining the best method of waste disposal for San Diego. Included in the collection is the original proposal booklet submitted by Holmes & Navar-Montgomery. This booklet contains the 1958 plan for the treatment and disposal of city sewage into San Diego Bay. Also included are editorials, letters to the editor, and newspaper clippings for and against the city's proposal to dispose of waste water into the ocean off the Point Loma coast.

Dates

1952-1967

Creator

Metropolitan Waste Water Reclamation Project (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The copyright interests in some or all of these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creator(s) of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of archival collections is such that multiple creators are often applicable and copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. In any case, the user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, obtaining publication rights and copyright infringement. When requesting images from Special Collections & University Archives for publication, we require a signed agreement waiving San Diego State University of any liability in the event of a copyright violation.

Historical Note

In 1958 the city of San Diego conducted a study to determine a better way to dispose of sewage. Prior to this study, the city's sewage was disposed of in the San Diego bay, after receiving varying degrees of treatment. The city contracted with the firm of Holmes & Navar-Montgomery to find an alternative to dumping waste in the bay to eliminate potential health and environmental risks.

Holmes & Navar-Montgomery proposed five alternative plans, but after the city completed the initial cost appraisal, it determined that disposing of city waste into the ocean was still the most cost-efficient method of waste management. Another plan provided for a system of interceptor sewers and pumping stations that would end at a new treatment plant in Fort Rosecrans. From this new plant, waste would travel through a multiple port diffuser located about 220 miles under water, and would then be dumped into the ocean approximately 13,000 miles off shore. The estimated cost of this plan was $41,136,000.