START OF THE SECTION
As would be expected, the story of the section is not a tale unto itself. There are a number of other developments that have affected the section over the years. The story of the section is interwoven with these other events. Thus, the “story” is a braid of many strands.
Perhaps the largest strand in the braid is a change in the way that society views the subject of wastewater treatment and disposal. The very terms that are utilized by the public indicate an increasing awareness of and willingness to discuss the matter. Some semantic modifications have helped. What used to be “sewage” is now “wastewater”. What used to be “sludge” is now “bio-solids”. These changes reflect a desire to utilize a more accurate and socially acceptable terminology. More importantly, they indicate the fact that the subjects are being discussed in public and in the media.
Environmental concerns constitute another important strand. They closely reflect, or perhaps even cause, this more repetitive attitude on the part of the public. In the early 1970’s it was suddenly discovered that mankind was fouling the planet with organic and chemical waste. Sewage treatment plants were an early target of the new conscious, self-proclaimed “environmentalists”. There was a great hue and cry about inadequate treatment. An inadvertent treatment mishap was certain to receive wide publicity and condemnation.
Once these concerns had been met and fears alloyed, these “quality of life” advocates were able to move on to greater challenges in the air pollution and solid waste fields. Actually, the water pollution had been kept pretty well in hand throughout the years, mainly through the efforts of our predecessors in the San Diego Section and the Association. Ongoing political and economic controversies have resulted in much less successful efforts in other environmental areas.
Another strand in our braid was the development of State Certified Treatment Plant Operators and Association Certified specialties in related fields. These could be considered part of the regulatory control. However, it would more correctly be viewed as efforts on the part of the Association to ensure professional standards of training and performance.
Improvements in treatment methods also deserve a place in the braid. While noted for its quick acceptance of new ideas, the wastewater treatment profession has managed to gradually creep from the dumping sewage on the ground or into a river to the point where liquid effluent and sludge can be reused. As a matter of fact, we are standing on the threshold of further advances that will include reuse for potable purposes.
There is also a challenge presented by countries that are less advanced than ours. Many areas of the world are presently at a technological level that existed in the United States three quarters of a century ago. In the coming years, it will be part of our activities to help close the gap.
In these early days of increased environmental awareness, we took some undeserved lumps, but the overall effect was to make our jobs easier. No longer was the man who plowed the snow in winter the same fellow who operated the treatment plant in summer. We now had the luxury of educated, trained, and certified personnel. (Don’t know who is plowing the snow these days.)
There are few, if any, formal written records of early Section history. What is known is mostly memory and tradition. However the Association office does have a considerable amount of useful information contained in a complete set of copies of early Bulletins, Newsletters, and Journals. They were kind enough to share this information with the editors.
Considering the difficulty of close, personal contact on a statewide basis, it is not surprising that smaller subgroups formed, principally in the metropolitan areas, to socialize and discuss mutual problems. Tradition has it that the San Diego Section first came into being in 1948 through the series of “coffee and donut” type get together held at the Harbor Drive treatment Plant operated by the City of San Diego. They were held regularly to exchange information and discuss common problems. This informal group gradually evolved itself into what is now the San Diego Section. Among those who attended were Izzy Nusbaum, Dennis O’Leary, and Dave Warfield. Each of these gentlemen credit Eric Quartly, Superintendent of the Harbor Drive Plant, with being the moving force behind those meetings.
Eric Quartly was also active i the State Association. In 1952 he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Association. At that time, he prevailed upon that organization to dignify the “Coffee and Donut Club” with a title of, “San Diego county Section of the California Sewage Works Association”. The 1948 date is a little vague. The first informal recognition of the Section is noted in the State Newsletter in 1952.
During this time period, representatives of the city of San Diego and the County of San Diego appear to have been prominent in the activities of the Section. This was undoubtedly due to their greater number and to the fact that they tended to be concentrated in the San Diego area. In those early, pre-freeway days, it was a major expedition for someone to come down from Fallbrook to Harbor Drive just to drink coffee.
For those inclined to worry about such things, we actually have two “start” dates with which to deal. On the one hand, we have the 1948 date of the informal formation of the Harbor drive Coffee Club, while on the other hand we have the 1952 formal recognition of the section by the Association.
Which date one prefers probably depends upon individual personality and philosophy, did the United States come into being on April 18, 1775, when the Minutemen shouldered their muskets at Lexington and Concord? Or was it twelve years later on September 17, 1787, a group of men in powdered wigs signed their names to the Constitution.
It has been said that “history belongs to the historians.” The editors have opted for the 1948 date.
The reason that the San Diego Section was founded in 1948 was influenced, to a great part, by the fact that, with the end of World War II, three years previously, things were returning to normal. A number of treatment facilities that has been constructed to server military installations in and around San Diego had been turned over to local agencies. More importantly, personnel released from military service were now working in the water pollution control field.
Pollution control was not high on the priority list during the war years. Conditions had been allowed to deteriorate. This was particularly true of San Diego Bay. Those involved in pollution control faced a major task of, first of all, catching up, and secondly, incorporating new treatment methodology into the sewerage infrastructure. The need for exchange of information and “self-help” was the primary driving force behind the activities of the Association and of the newly formed Section.
A meeting with Eric Quartly was described by Ron LaRosa in a 1980 copy of the Section Newsletter. Ron had volunteered to be Section Historian. This interview was one of his first actions in that position. Unfortunately, after making big plans, Ron left his County employer for work in some far distant arena. His historical efforts were, therefore, cut short. However, his interview with Eric constitutes a physical link with the formation of the Section.
Eric was tracked down through the detective work of Dennis O’Leary and the city of San Diego Retirement Office. He was living quietly in retirement at the time, but was more than willing to discuss the “olden days” with interested parties. Ron was able to confirm the fact that Eric was the driving force behind the formation of the San Diego Section. Eric considered himself a “Concerned Sewage Engineer”.
In the interview, Eric noted that there was neither formal title of “wastewater Treatment Plant Operator,” nor State certification as we know it today. He also noted that sewage was an unpopular term in those days. This unpopularity persisted until its eventual elimination from polite conversation; even the word pollution is now avoided. Witness CWEA in lieu of CWPCA. Eric stated that the early treatment plant operators were recruited from the ranks of the contrition crew working on the “new” facility at 34th Street Harbor Drive. In addition to the informal “Coffee Club” sessions, these new operators attended evening classes set up the City to provide sufficient expertise to enable the plant to operate as designed.
Eric’s memories of early Section meetings indicate that they were similar to those held in the ‘70’s. Presentations by sales engineers, representatives of various governmental agencies, and consultants were the normal fare.
When asked how things were different then, Eric responded, “There was little public awareness and a lack of political support. Nevertheless, we got the job done by doing the best we could with what we had. Improvisation and innovation were necessary and we worked through the night in order to solve problems.”
The development of wastewater treatment in the San Diego area is greatly influenced by the natural drainage pattern. Any discussion of wastewater in inexorably tied to the topography of the region. In Los Angeles and in Orange Counties, the bulk of the sewered area lies within a single watershed, the Los Angeles and Santa Ana Rivers. This has resulted in major plants, such as Hyperion and the Los Angeles county Sanitation District plant in Carson and the Orange County Sanitation Districts facilities in Santa Ana. On the other hand, the San Diego area is divided into a number of separate drainage areas characterized by relatively small streams emptying into the ocean. This has resulted in the fact that sewerage facilities in San Diego tend to be relatively small. The only exception is in the San Diego River Basin. Here the large population of the City, coupled with the size of the drainage area, has led to the development of the centralized San Diego Metropolitan System.
There was another factor in this small facility development pattern. During the World War II years, the military constructed a number of small treatment plants to handle wastewater from bases located on the periphery of the City. After the War, many were taken over and operated by the City until they were incorporated into the Metro System. The remains of some of these facilities are still visible. The existence of the smaller drainage areas led to a proliferation of treatment complexes. In some cases, the Tijuana River Basin, and the City of Del Mar Sewerage System, these plants have been artificially diverted to the San Diego Metro System. In other cases, However, individual treatment plants have been developed. Typical of these are the facilities of the Otay Water District on the Sweetwater Basin, the Escondido facilities which drain to the San Elijo system through a outfall paralleling Escondido Creek, and the Oceanside System draining the San Luis Rey River Basin.
Falling in between the large, San Diego Metro System and the independent plants were smaller regional facilities at San Elijo and at Encina. These were created by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors as joint ventures of cities and independent Sanitization Districts. They served a limited tributary area with a single point of ocean discharge. The need for these facilities was dedicated by the population of the coastal communities. The Encina plant, in particular, has grown due to an influx of population into its service area which included the cities of Carlsbad, San Marcos, and Vista.
Because of this drainage pattern, the Section developed a number of independent facilities rather than a single, all-encompassing agency. Insofar as the Section and Association are concerned, this has had the fortunate effect of more jobs in the field, hence more members in the Section.