WASTEWATER TOUR Overlooking the wastewater treatment ponds upon which a solar array is floating.
POND OF PANELS The solar panel array generates 4.78-megawatts (MW) of clean energy, enough to meet 8% of the city’s needs.
Among the Sun Day activities in Healdsburg last week was a Thursday visit to the city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, at the end of Foreman Road. It opened in 2021 as the country’s largest civic floating solar array, and though it has since been exceeded in size, it still does its job: providing clean, emission-free electrical energy for Healdsburg’s grid. It goes a long way toward meeting the city’s zero-emissions goals, and it still does its job in wastewater treatment—the water is distributed via “purple pipes” to irrigation fields and parks throughout Healdsburg.
Rob Scates of the city’s Water and Wastewater operations, and Utility Conservation Analyst Terra Sampson led the tour, providing education and inspiration for over a dozen local residents committed to a zero-emissions future.
Photographer Rick Tang was on hand to document the visit.
VISUAL ASSIST Rob Scates and Terra Sampson came equipped with posters outlining the operations and benefits of the Wastewater Treatment Plant.ANALYST Terra Sampson is a vital employee in the city’s Utilities Department as a conservation analyst, making sense of the facilities and their potential.OPERATIONS MANAGER Rob Scates is the Healdsburg city employee in charge of operations at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.DUAL PURPOSE The solar array also provides benefits such as reducing water evaporation and algae growth, which improve the quality of recycled water used by local farms and vineyards.INVERTERS The row of inverters behind the group changes the direct current (DC) from the photovoltaic cells to AC (alternating current) for network distribution.DANGER DANGER Working with electricity and wastewater has its own dangers, which is why the Wastewater Treatment Plant is not open to the public.LOOK OUT BELOW Flocks of Canada geese are one of the major sources of pollution affecting the performance of the solar array.
