History

1921

• Orange County Joint Outfall Sewer (JOS) is formed. Santa Ana and Anaheim agree to construct an outfall extending into the Pacific Ocean.

1923

• Construction starts on Ocean Outfall.

1924

• First sewage from member cities is discharged into system.

1927

• Outfall is extended to a distance of 3000 feet. New screening plant and pumping station is constructed.

1936

• Extensive repairs are made on Ocean Outfall due to a break in the pipe caused by the dragging of an anchor from a fishing barge.

1938

• Severe flood destroys the screening plant.

1941

• First units of Primary Treatment Plant are constructed.

1946

• Board of Supervisors orders Orange County Sewerage Survey Report. Report becomes basis for formation of original sanitation district.

1947

• Districts Nos. 1, 5 and 6 formally organize under the Sanitary District Act of 1923.

1948

• Districts Nos. 2, 3, 7 and 11 formally organize under the Sanitary District Act of 1923.

1949

• Individual bond issues are approved to fund joint operations.

1952

• Construction begins on new 7,000-foot, 78" diameter outfall.

1954

• The County Sanitation Districts of Orange County began official operations; takes over duties of JOS.

1959

• Headworks No. 1 begins operating at Plant No. 1.

1962

• Studies begin for new $10 million, 5-mile long ocean outfall.

1970

• District formally establishes Industrial Waste Division.

1971

• New 5-mile long 120" diameter, $10 million outfall is operational.

1974

• New diversion structure comes on-line at Plant No. 1.

1978

• $32 million Activated Sludge facility begins operating at Reclamation Plant No. 1.

1983

• Oxygen Activated Sludge plant and solids handling facility begin operating at Plant No. 2.

1985

• District begins operating under 5-year Ocean Discharge Permit Waiver.

1987

• Construction begins on new 480 MGD Ocean Outfall Booster Station.

1989

• 60 MGD primary treatment expansion begins at Plant No. 1. Headworks No. 2 begins operating at Plant No. 1. 30-year Master Plan approved. Ocean Outfall Booster Station is completed. 30-year Master Plan "2020 VISION" is approved.

1990

• Construction begins on new Environmental Sciences Laboratory and Central Power Generation facilities.

1991

• New Administration building is completed. 100 percent recycling of biosolids is achieved. Construction begins on new Operations Center.

1992

• 60 MGD primary treatment expansion is completed.

1993

• Central Power Generation facilities are dedicated. District wins first place EPA Operations and Maintenance Excellence Award.

1994

• District's fixed assets (at cost) top $1 billion. District celebrates 40-year anniversary.

1998

• CSDOC becomes a consolidated agency, changing its name to OCSD to streamline its governance structure.

1999

• OCSD adopts a resolution to accept urban runoff and initiates the Urban Runoff Program.

2002

• OCSD completes the comprehensive odor control master plan.

• OCSD receives the federal operating permit (Title V) for both its plants.

• After a 13-12 Board decision, OCSD begins to ramp up existing secondary treatment process.

• Final effluent disinfection begins

2003

• OCSD becomes the first agency in the nation to be certified for its biosolids environmental management plan

2004

• OCSD and OCWD begins construction on the Groundwater Replenishment System

2008

• Ground Water Replenishment System (GWR) Commissioned

2009

• Steve Anderson Lift Station begins operation

2014

• OCSD celebrates its 60th Anniversary

2015

• OCSD ceases disinfection of its ocean discharge on March 17, 2015. OCSD continues to monitor the local beaches and ocean to further ensure the quality of our coastal waters hasn't changed.
• Health and Safety Code Section 4730.65 amended to transfer Board representation from the City of Yorba Linda to Yorba Linda Water District due to local sewers being transferred from the City to the Water District.

2016

• OCSD transferred 176 miles of local sewers serving parts of Tustin and the unincorporated area of Orange County to East Orange County Water District.
• Governor Brown signs Assembly Bill (AB 2022) into law, allowing Californians to conveniently taste-test recycled water in their communities.

2017

• OCSD and OCWD embarked on a year-long community outreach to get GWRS bottled water into the hands of residents, political officials and community liaisons. They took 13,000 bottles on the road to various events from San Diego to Sacramento, handed them out with literature and answered questions from about 17,000 people. OCWD and OCSD also challenged social media influencers and the media to #GetOverIt and take a taste test, which these groups promoted.

2018

•  OCSD and OCWD celebrated 10 years of the Groundwater Replenishment System in February 2018. Both agencies hosted a combined open house and even set a Guinness World Records ™ for the most recycled wastewater in a 24-hour period.
• OCSD purchases a property across the street to build a future building that will house staff that are currently located in various buildings and trailers all over the current location. OCSD is planning  to expand at the Fountain Valley facility and the extra space for future wastewater treatment infrastructure will be beneficial in the long run.

2019

• OCSD celebrates its 65th Anniversary.
• OCSD was granted a patent for a process to treat odors known as “Chemical Optimization During Wastewater Treatment Odor Control”.
• Two new centrifuge systems were installed at both treatment plants (Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach) to replace aging equipment, improve efficiency and expand our solids handling capacity. These facilities perform the critical step of removing water from the biosolids so that they can be transported for beneficial reuse as a soil amendment.
• OCSD entered into a public/private partnership with Stem, SK E&S and SUSI Partners and Southern California Edison utilizing the latest energy storage technology. A 4.9-megawatt, 32.5-megawatt-hour Tesla lithium-ion energy storage system which is the largest single customer-sited battery system in the United States, was placed at our Plant No. 1 facility in Fountain Valley.

2020

• During the budget process OCSD’s Board of Director’s opted to forego the rate increase for the year due to the global pandemic.
• OCSD collaborated with industry and academic partners to understand the testing methods, costs, and usefulness of Wastewater Based Epidemiology also known as wastewater surveillance for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2.

• OCSD completed the Climate Resiliency Study that involved assessing the risks posed by climate change and developing adaptations to mitigate those risks. The result of the study was a Climate Resiliency Plan that focused on the impacts of climate change in Orange County. The plan is one of the first in California to focus on a particular county within the state. The plan combines the implications of climate change into improved design standards, emergency preparedness, and facility operations for the future. As a result of this plan and the work that staff has done to study climate change, climate resiliency is being integrated into ongoing Capital Improvement Program projects.
• In October 2020, OCSD rebranded changing the abbreviated name to OC San and updating the logo to be more reflective of the agency of today.

2021

• As part of OC San’s rebranding efforts, social media handles were changed to @OCSanDistrict and the website was updated to www.OCSAN.gov.
•  OC San began construction on the new Headquarters Building during the summer of 2021.

2022

• OC San hit a major milestone in reaching 100 percent reclaimable flows in December.
• OC San's Lab was recognized as the first California Public Laboratory to Receive Accreditation to Detect PFAS in Wastewater. OC San is accredited by the California Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program and became the first public agency to receive national accreditation through the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) in 2017.

2023

• The Supercritical Water Oxidation Project began in January. This process uses water at a high temperature and pressure to oxidize and break down complex compound materials like PFAS. Once treated, OC San expects that the compounds are transformed into more basic and benign compounds to enhance public health by reducing exposure PFAS and microplastics.
• OC San welcomed a new General Manager, Rob Thompson in January.
• OC San held a joint event in April for the Final Completion of the Groundwater Replenishment System.