Background 

DAC is responsible for providing wastewater collection and treatment services in unincorporated areas of the county. It currently provides service to 3,800 connections in three areas: North Valley, South Central and Chaparral. Its wastewater system consists of four treatment plants, just over 120 miles of collection lines and 29 lift stations. DAC has undertaken an initiative to continue addressing new service needs and remove substandard on-site wastewater disposal systems, as well as implement other operation and maintenance improvements throughout its system.

The proposed project is located within its South Central service area, which serves communities on both the east and west side of the Rio Grande River, including Brazito, La Mesa, San Miguel, Mesquite, Vado, Chamberino and Berino. DAC is proposing to build a sewer system for 30 homes in Sleepy Farms that will be connected to its existing wastewater collection infrastructure near Lift Station No. 7 (LS No. 7). The homes currently use on-site septic systems that are failing due to substandard design and installation and are experiencing surface pooling exacerbated by the shallow water table and low permeability of the soil in the area. This issue is especially acute during irrigation season and after rain events.

Description

The proposed project consists of extending the Doña Ana County wastewater collection system to the community of Sleepy Farms and upgrading Lift Station No. 7. The main project components include:

Sleepy Farms sewer system: Construction of a local lift station and installation of 5,000 linear feet of force main, 4,400 linear ft of 8-inch gravity sewer collection lines, manholes and a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system.

Sleepy Farms wastewater connections: Installation of 30 residential wastewater connections and decommissioning of existing on-site septic systems.

Rehabilitation Lift Station No. 7: Renovations to the existing wet well, including but not limited to disinfection, replacement of the variable frequency drive (VFD) pumps, reconfiguration of yard piping, concrete repairs and recoating of the existing wet well, site work, a shade structure, new electrical controls and SCADA equipment.

Benefits 

The project will prevent groundwater contamination and reduce the risks of waterborne diseases by providing first-time wastewater collection and treatment services to 30 homes in the Sleepy Farms area and eliminating substandard and failing septic systems. The new system will collect an estimated 9,400 gallons per day (gpd) of wastewater for treatment. The project will also improve service for an additional 2,050 existing connections by increasing the reliability and efficiency of the lift station, as well as prevent the risk of up to approximately 400,000 gpd of wastewater spills.