SacSewer is committed to being a leader in environmental stewardship, which is demonstrated in many of our efforts, including the 2,150 acre Bufferlands conservation program. Through our sustainable efforts in resource recovery, we maximize the reuse of treatment process by-products such as biogas (energy), biosolids (nutrients), and the treated water itself—in the form of recycled water. In fact, our landmark recycled water project—Harvest Water—is a critical component to realizing SacSewer’s goal of increasing recycled water delivery in the Sacramento region.

Harvest Water’s beginnings can be traced to 2004, when SacSewer set a long-term goal to increase recycled water deliveries by up to 40 million gallons per day. At the time, a water recycling opportunities study identified the delivery of recycled water to agricultural lands in southern Sacramento County as a viable alternative to help achieve those goals. Soon after, we began a planning effort known as the South County Ag Project. Those initial studies and activities began a comprehensive development process that eventually evolved into the current Harvest Water program.

Along the way, critical regulatory decisions helped make Harvest Water a reality. In 2010, SacSewer received a stringent new permit for its discharge of treated sewage to the Sacramento River that required significant modifications to its treatment processes. The result was a $1.7 billion facility upgrade completed in 2023, called the EchoWater Project. Tertiary-treated water produced by the EchoWater Resource Recovery Facility located near Elk Grove now meets water quality standards for unrestricted recycled water uses, including the irrigation of food crops. This greatly increases the amount of water SacSewer can provide for recycled water uses and provides alternative irrigation opportunities to local farmers and ranchers.

Harvest Water also reinforces SacSewer’s commitment to creating a new water management option by reducing the amount of treated water necessarily released into the Sacramento River and instead using it for beneficial reuse purposes in the region.