"Together, we are a model of excellence and innovation"

About the Encina Wastewater Authority


The Encina Wastewater Authority (EWA) is a public agency located in Carlsbad, California. EWA provides wastewater treatment service to approximately 300,000 residents in northwestern San Diego County.
      




EWA is owned by six public agencies in a unique arrangement called a Joint Powers Agreement. Under this Agreement, these agencies agree to share in the costs and management of EWA in order to get more economical and high-tech facilities than they could get on their own. The six owners are: the City of Carlsbad, City of Vista, City of Encinitas , Vallecitos Water District, Buena Sanitation District, and the Leucadia Wastewater District.

 
Mission Statement
As an environmental leader, EWA provides sustainable and fiscally responsible wastewater services to the communities it serves while maximizing the use of alternative and renewable resources.

Vision Statement
Together, we are a model of excellence and innovation. 

Organizational Values
We are guided in our daily decisions and activities by these values:
Integrity: We are open, honest, and ethical in all our communications and our actions.
Respect: We give thoughtful consideration to each other's differences and opinions.
Valuing People: We are committed to communications and supportive teamwork in our effort to remain an employer of choice.
Commitment: We give our individual best to get the job done right.
Responsibility: We are accountable for our behaviors, actions, and use of the public resources entrusted to our stewardship.
Leadership: Leadership opportunities exist for every employee.

History
On July 13, 1961 the City of Carlsbad and Vista Sanitation District entered into a basic agreement to create a joint powers authority (JPA) for the purpose of acquiring and constructing a joint sewer system. In 1963, the City of Vista incorporated and assumed membership in the JPA. Between 1964 and 1971, additional partners became members of the JPA including: the Buena Sanitation District (January 1964); the Vallecitos Water District (March 1965); and, the Leucadia County Water District and City of Encinitas (August 1971). More than thirty years later, these six member agencies remain partners in EWA.

From 1963 to 1979, the County of San Diego managed the JPA. In 1963, the partners acquired a twenty-five acre site in south Carlsbad at the confluence of the Pacific Ocean and Encinas Creek. By 1965, the partners completed construction of the Encina Water Pollution Control Facilities (EWPCF) including a 4.5 million gallon per day (MGD) treatment plant and ocean outfall. The Phase I expansion further increased treatment capacity to 6.75 MGD by 1971, and in 1975, the Phase II expansion increased capacity to 13.75 MGD and extended the ocean outfall.

The Leucadia County Water District, now known as the Leucadia Wastewater District, managed the EWPCF from 1979 to 1988. During this time, the partners completed the Phase III expansion that increased capacity to 22.5 MGD and upgraded EWPCF to clean wastewater to meet the more stringent secondary treatment level standards. The Phase III Expansion Project also added critical effluent pumping facilities to the ocean outfall system and cogeneration facilities that use by-product methane and natural gas to produce electricity and compressed air required for plant operations.

In 1988, the partners entered into a Revised Basic Agreement and created the Encina Administrative Agency (EAA) to operate, maintain, and administer the EWPCF and the other Encina joint facilities: the Agua Hedionda Pump Station and the Buena Vista Pump Station. In 1991, EAA changed its name to the Encina Wastewater Authority (EWA).

The Phase IV Expansion Project, completed in 1992, increased treatment capacity to 36.0 MGD, provided interim wastewater flow equalization facilities to optimize treatment plant and ocean outfall operations, and added extensive odor control facilities to better serve the growing population of the service area. In 1995, EWA purchased the thirty-seven (37) acres adjacent to the southern boundary of the EWPCF known as the South Parcel to provide for future facility needs.
 
In 2009 the Phase V expansion was completed, which included new solids processing and cogeneration facilities. Belt filter presses, previously used to dewater wastewater solids, were replaced with centrifuges and a heat dryer was added which enabled the production of class A biosolids. The old cogeneration engines were replaced with four new ones capable of producing 3 MW of electricity, as well as thermal energy used to heat the digesters. These changes increased EWPCF treatment capacity to 40.5 MGD liquid and 43.3 MGD solids.