Completion of Sayulita’s Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade & Emissor Pipe Project

Text from Sayulita Life's El Sayulero.  Photos, video by others.

On Thursday, April 11th, 2019, the emissor pipe was successfully installed to the newly upgraded wastewater treatment plant in Sayulita. The Gobernador Antonio Echevarria Garcia,the Presidente Municipal de Bahia de Banderas, Jaime Cuevas, and the director of the CEA (Nayarit’s potable water authority), Martha Patricia Urenda Delgado were at the treatment plant yesterday, on April 16th, to tour and inaugurate the newly upgraded and fully functioning plant and emissor. Sayulita is now the only beach town in the area that does not dump grey water directly onto the beach. Many people turned out today to tour the plant and grounds, and it was great to see everyone involved in the process. There was also a noticeable lack of odor at the plant, which was a pleasant experience. The government of Nayarit also tested the water quality and the latest test results showed between 10 and 20 NMP / 100 ml enterococci, which is well below the 200 NMP / 100 ml limit set by the government for safe swimming.

 The treatment plant was previously only able to process 20-30 liters per second when both sides of the plant were in optimum running condition, which could not always keep up with the demand due to tourism growth, but it now has now been upgraded to process up to 80 liters per second, which is a huge improvement, and can handle the busiest tourist times, such as Semana Santa and Christmas / New Year’s Eve holidays. With the emissor pipe in place and functioning, there is no treated water entering the river or emptying onto the beach. The fully treated water is instead emitted through a pipe that is anchored to the sea bed and emits the treated water 2.3 km into the deep ocean. With good maintenance, this newly upgraded plant will serve Sayulita for the next 25 years as the population continues to grow. The government is now overseeing the management of the plant, so there will be regular inspections and upkeep.

This massive infrastructure upgrade could not have happened without the actions of Grupo Pro Sayulita, who took the initiative to get studies in place, engineering plans, apply for permits, and also the many donors who helped the project get underway. The new sewer line beneath Manuel Navarette, beneath the river bed,  and the new storage tank at the plant were all funded by Grupo Pro Sayulita as well as private donations. The newly elected Mexican State and Federal government then took over the project and have been working diligently for months to bring about the completion of the project, which they funded in excess of 41 million pesos.

This is the best news Sayulita has received in a very long time; thanks to everyone who stood by this necessary project and donated their time and money to bring about positive change for the health of everyone in Sayulita. There is still more to do, so please consider becoming a member of Grupo Pro Sayulita, or you can always pick a cause and donate directly to that fund. You can donate to Grupo Pro Sayulita here.

Sewer Treatment Plant Improvements Update Part 2 - March 2019

Just a quick update on the emissor pipe installation for the upgraded sewer treatment plant.  The work has begun connecting the pipes and attaching the concrete weights to keep the pipe from coming to the surface.  Interesting to watch.  Photos by Capas Sayulita and Ed Dorsett.

Sewer Treatment Plant Improvements Update - March 2019

From Sayulita Life El Sayulero March 5, 2019.

As many of you have noticed, professional workers and engineers have begun the construction and placement of the new emissor at the river bed which connects to the main beach.  This is part of an ongoing project from Sayulita’s new Sewage Treatment Plant. I talked with key members from the board of Grupo Pro Sayulita, who began this project several years ago and remain the liasons with the government officials now in charge of the plant and project. All of the projects have been designed to upgrade previous wastewater management systems. Phase 1 began more than two years ago, and phase 3, being done now, will be completed in the next few weeks.

When and why did this project first begin? 

Until about two years ago, Sayulita suffered from occasional spills of grey and black water in Gaviotas street, where it connects with Calle Navarrete. These problems occurred during the rainy season, when rain water overwhelmed the old system in place. Grupo Pro Sayulita partnered with other government associations of Sayulita and Bahía de Banderas to understand this problem and solve it. Old and insufficient pumping was found, and it was discovered that the holding tank in the wastewater plant, known as a carcamo, was too small for our growing town. The upgrade to our current treatment plant doubled the capacity of the holding tank.

What was phase 1 of this project? What are the other phases?

Over two years ago, Grupo Pro Sayulita partnered with Oromapas, CEA and CONAGUA. Grupo Pro created an infrastructure committee and funds that worked with these government agencies and local and international engineers in order to authorize the needed work and fund it. At that time, CEA and CONAGUA agreed to provide the necessary permits, and Grupo agreed to fund phase 1, now known as the “Gaviotas Project”. Also, at this same time, Conagua and CEA agreed to create phase 2 and fund it. Phase 2 included the repair and upgrade of the waste management plant itself. These organizations also agreed to plan and fund phase 3, the underwater emissor. Over the last year, phase 2 was completed; now phase 3, the emissor, will be complete in the next several weeks.

How does an underwater emissor work? 

Emissors are the most common form of wastewater management systems in the world, and are used all over Latin America, the US, and Canada. The emissor was designed by completing a wave and ocean study to ensure that the pipe does not disturb the reef, and to ensure it is located in a place that is safe for both ocean life and humans.  Our emissor will send treated water 2.3 km from the coast; it will be attached to the ocean floor and sit about 60m down from the surface. The treated water released can then be further broken down by natural ocean chemicals and effectively become food for ocean animals. This system will allow us to not put treated water into the river bed, and will allow the natural estuary of the river mouth to return. This is the work being completed now. 

What would you say to skeptics, or those who think this project will not work or is even more harmful to the environment?

There are many who do not understand this project and who do not understand just how common it is throughout the world. The reason it is so commonly used is that it is not a complicated system, and it works. For two years, we met with teams of wastewater engineers from all over the world, and every single one of them landed on this solution. In this consultation process, environmental protection was the first goal. The water will be treated from the treatment plant and discharged more than 2km from the coast, where it will be mixed with seawater without any negative consequences for marine flora and fauna. There are also those who are worried that the emissor will change the path of the waves; this is simply not going to happen because it is a pipe of just over 20cm in diameter, which will be fastened with concrete bases every four meters, and will be semi-buried, so as to not alter the ecosystem.

When do you anticipate the project to be completed? 

The treatment plant is ready to go and is waiting to be connected to the emissor. The emissor is scheduled to be completed in the next several weeks, however that does depend on the conditions of the ocean. We will be working with Conagua to publicly announce the completion of the emissor when finalized.

*Written by: Aanya Sheikh-Taheri

Emissor pipe staging in the river.

Photo by Sayulita Life

Trench digging at the river mouth during low tide.

Photo by Sayulita Life

This is a REALLY big deal for our pueblo.  With town's rapid growth and the years of mismanagement of the treatment plant/equipment the town's sewer situation needed tons of help.  Now the plant will have a new life with repaired equipment, a new larger holding tank, proper sized lines feeding the plant and a 2km emissor pipe taking treated water out to sea.  Official full capacity operation is so very close!

Sewer Plant Project Update From GRUPO PRO Sayulita

The Sayulita sewer plant upgrades have been ready to happen but slow in coming.  The upgrade project spearheaded by GRUPO PRO Sayulita recently released this statement concerning the state of things.  We hope this is the breakthrough that town needs to help make Sayulita a much safer and healthier place to visit and live.  All photos by GRUPO PRO Sayulita.

GRUPO PRO Sayulita has provided our community with the following update regarding the water situation here in Sayulita. These words and this update comes directly from GRUPO PRO Sayulita and not Sayulita Life:

Many of you know the Ejido leadership took over Sayulita’s water/sewer utility a few weeks ago, and removed the plant manager from his position. The plant’s employees remain at the plant and continue to operate it.

The former manager pushed back against his removal. His supporters, including some important members of the Ejido, held a rally at the baseball field. At the rally, the former manager touted his 18 year record of accomplishment at the plant. A counter-narrative appeared in the local press, decrying the plant’s history of mismanagement and corruption.

Following these developments the Ejido responded by appointing a new water council that includes a member of the Infrastructure Committee. We understand the Ejido plans to form a legal corporation (Asociacion Civil, or AC) to operate the utility, to hire an administrator and an accountant, and to establish a tax ID with the Mexican tax agency SAT. If successful, this will mean a legal non-profit Mexican corporation will operate Sayulita’s water/sewer utility, subject to oversight and public accounting for receipts and expenditures.

In addition to the Ejido’s action, the state water agency CEA continues to make improvements to Sayulita’s sewage treatment plant, using government funds. They finished the concrete and stone river crossing connecting Calle Manuel Navarette to Avenida Palmar. They armored the north bank of the river with “baskets” filled with large rocks, and covered the river bed with reinforced cobblestones. This reinforcement may extend from the crossing to the beach.

CEA also began constructing a huge underground carcamo (holding tank) next to the plant. The tank may extend to nine meters below the surface, and will pump effluent into the plant for treatment at a precise rate. ProSayulita will cooperate with CEA on connecting the Gaviotas project to users and paving the broken areas of Manuel Navarette and Gaviotas.

We will continue to update you as things progress at the plant.

GRUPO PRO Sayulita

A New Casa 2017 - Bio-Cell Construction

Early on in the construction design process we knew we had to make an effort to reduce the impact our new home would have on the town's infrastructure.  The lot is essentially north facing so the idea of solar to help offset our electrical use was not something we considered.  Off street parking to help traffic flow?  Yes, we have that covered.  Recycle?  Of course.  Water/sewer?  High efficiency toilets etc are a no brainer but what else can we do?  Perhaps we can help there.

A facebook page dedicated to Ecological sustainability solutions for Sayulita had been started about the time we began construction.  It had been discussing how even in a downtown setting there are things we can do to help wastewater contributions.  As ridiculous as it sounds, our new house will have 2 kitchens, 2 laundry rooms with utility sinks, a bar and 4 bathrooms. Granted the amount of water we will use and waste water we will generate won't be much more than we do currently, the potential contributions and usage are much higher with a full house and occasional renters/family/ friends in the apartment.  So, we decided to look up the folks who seemed to be in charge of designing a grey and black treatment system for our property.  What could we do on the lot in the space we had that would help reduce the impact we would have on an already overloaded water/sewer infrastructure.

Design by Budd Adams

Essentially, the house's plumbing needed to separate "grey water" from "black water".  Liquid waste water which comes from sinks and showers from solid waste which comes from toilets.  The solid waste, "black water", would be distributed into what is called a Bio-Digester.  This is essentially a large plastic tank(see the small round circle in white on plan above) that would be buried in the driveway.  In the bio-digester, solid waste would be broken down anaerobically as micro-organisms naturally took care of the decomposition of solids.  It would have to be emptied once in a while but it would prevent "black water" waste from most of the house from having to be treated by the facility in town.

The liquid waste, "grey water", would be filtered and sent to a garden in the front yard.  The light blue area of the diagram above shows the location.  Once filtered the grey water would slowly be treated by micro organisms, used by select garden plants and then recirculated again within the garden by a pump.

To pull this off we had to essentially plan three separate plumbing systems.  1.  The totally separate apartment system which will be tied into the the town's main sewer.  Why separate?  Honestly, we really wouldn't have any control over what occupants sent down the drain.  The concern was that some products occupants used may be damaging to the system rendering the treatment process less effective.  Something we could control in our living space upstairs  2. A system separating of all the main house(our house) toilets to distribute to the "black water" bio digester in the driveway.  3.  A system separating of all the "main house" showers, sinks and drains to distribute to a filter and then to the garden for treatment.

Design by Budd Adams

This all going on in the front yard of the small 330 square meter lot with a house on it.  Here is a photo of the front yard showing some of the formed up walls for the system.  The green section is the concrete slab to the right.  The blue section begins at what looks like a open box in the photo and the area by the plastic sheeting will actually be one more garden area that will act as a overflow should we see a big rain or something goes wrong with the system for some reason.  Excess water should infect be pumped up to the green section of the diagram to filter through the system again.  We are told the system does not smell and we are counting on that.  Our old neighbor used to water his garden with "grey water" from his house by hose and it did stink. If it does smell the system's designer has a few tricks to help with that but the system is mostly underground.  A similar system to this was actually supposed to go into a small hotel kitchen here in Sayulita to take care of grey water .  If it would work in the tight location with people eating and lodging then we hope we won't have a problem either.

The front yard Bio Cell taking shape.  The large wall to the right is just a separation wall from the neighbors's property.

So the question remains about what happens with the apartment waste water since we cannot hook into the main sewer system just yet.  Since the apartment has a single discharge line and does not mix with the Bio-cell, the only option is to collect it and have the collection container pumped out every few weeks as needed.  The collection container will be stored in a bodega(the smaller of the two green sections on the map) and hidden then removed when it is time to hook the apartment into the town system.

 Well, that is our solution for now anyway.

A New Casa in 2017 - December Update - A Big Bump In The Road

I wrote previously about the sewer work that has been going on in our pueblo.  This got a lot more real this last week as the sewer work relates to our building project.

Our builder, Leo, has been trying to get a sewer hook up for the house since last spring.  He visits the water office here in town and is told the same answer.  "No hook ups available".  I never realized that we never had the permits to hook up to the sewer line that runs down our street.  He only had permits to hook up to the water supply.  One of those many important details I missed when looking at the paper work and having discussions in Spanish.

Lots of exterior finishing going on

So, he suggested as the property owner to go in and speak with the office staff at the water department.  The answer was still the same.  "No".  Until the sewer line improvements are complete there will be no new sewer line hook ups.  See related post HERE.  Approvals for permits may come available in January or February or even later.  SHIT!!  We have a house that has water, electricity but we cannot go to the bathroom or take a shower for who really knows how long?

Well, just as I was leaving the water department wondering what the hell we were going to do when we moved in to the first floor of the house at the end of the month my phone "dings" letting me know I had an email.  It was our landlord.  SHIT!  Expecting only bad news.  The last I heard from him he was planning on coming down over the holidays and setting up some work to be done on the house we rent from him.  I got some good news in that email.  He let me know that he was going to be busy with business until the end of January and if we would like to stay in the house one more month we were welcome to do so.

With no windows, no doors, no stairs and no sewer connection we were happy to take him up on his offer and be sure we were in a good place until the end of January.  Whew.  We were all disappointed not to be moving into our new place but it was the best option considering all the things that still needed to be done.

Apartment built in bed

Trace's room subfloor

 Work on the apartment level continues and it has been primed.  The built in couches, bed and kitchen have bee, installed, cushions ordered and we still wait for the final concrete coat for the floor.  The upper level walls are finished and ready for paint and several of the rooms are receiving their 4cm thick concrete subfloors.

The front yard has been busy this week with lots of excavation and the beginnings of the garden, bodegas and the front spiral stairs.  Lots going outside but not much really on the inside.

Future bodega

Front garden and stairs taking shape

We are certainly thankful that the crew isn't taking an extended holiday as Christmas time approaches.  It isn't out of the ordinary for construction crews to be scarce for a couple weeks.  Not the case with our crew.  They will keep moving forward for the most part.

What to do about the sewer situation?  We have some solutions but will get into those in another post.  We have essentially 6 weeks to figure it out.

Sewer Work Finally Begins!

It's no secret that Sayulita is and has been experiencing some severe growing pains.  The promotion of our small town by the Riviera Nayarit Tourism Agency, Sayulita's designation as a Pueblo Magico and the recent overall rise in popularity of the this area of Mexico has caused many issues.  Good solutions for traffic, parking, trash collection, construction regulation, utilities, local taxation etc have all been slow in coming.  Water and sewage treatment are at the top of the list.

With the increased number of visitors(the biggest increased % in Mexico), lodging construction and a boom in new home construction, Sayulita's outdated and functionally limited sewage treatment system was way over due for an upgrade.  What may have worked 10+ years ago or more could no longer handle the volume.  Add years of local corruption where money that should have been committed to maintaining and upgrading the system just disappears and the town has a big problem to correct.

One particular area of town has been the problem.  It is the lowest point in town and is the convergence of several sewer lines before there is a crossing of the river to the sewer plant.  A few things needed correcting and I am being very general not to go on at length.

The pipe in this area needed to be replaced.  Essentially it was not big enough to handle the increased flow of all of the lines coming into it.  As a result, during high flow times, the line would literally overflow and there would be raw sewage bubbling up from the manhole covers in the streets.  This "black water" would follow the the slope of the road and end up draining into the river where it would empty out into the ocean/beach nearby.  This line is being resized and appropriately sloped to help prevent future overflows.

Another problem was that the pipe that crossed the river was often damaged due to the river bed being used as a road during dryer months of the year.  Cars and trucks would literally just crush the existing pipe that was insufficiently buried sending black water out into the river until repaired.  A new pipe at a proper depth with protection from vehicles will be installed.

Lastly, the sewer plant needed to be repaired and upgraded so that capacity could be met sufficiently.  This is just the beginning.  The next phase is to send a "emissor pipe" that will transport treated effluent from the plant out to sea several miles where the natural process in the ocean can also help the treatment process.

This project was funded by public donations and memberships through Pro Sayulita and will go a long way to help Sayulita's image when it comes to it's biggest asset, it's water front.  It has been so discouraging to see tourists and locals alike tip toe through ankle high water bubbling up from manhole covers each year covering the streets in this area, draining down to the river and then to the ocean.  In recent years people have blamed this situation on getting sick in Sayulita.  Where I do think this is part of it and is easy to point at as the cause, I think there are other factors in play for people getting sick in town each busy season.  Anyway, this is certainly a HUGE step in the right direction and will go a long way to keeping the town a more enjoyable place to visit and safer for everyone.