ABSTRACT
The Mt. View Sanitary District in Martinez, California established 3.6 ha of freshwater wetlands in 1973 to process secondary effluent. It was expanded to 8.5 ha in 1977. In 1979, a pilot project combining a forest area and marsh pond was added. In 1984 and 1987 respectively, 9 ha and 16 ha of seasonal wetlands were added, bringing the total size to approximately 37 ha. This chapter summarizes 15 years of operating experience on two wetland areas constructed in the 1970’s and the marsh/forest pilot project, receiving secondary effluent from the district’s wastewater treatment plant as the sole water source. Nine years of experience with a prototype marsh/forest evapotranspiration system has shown that a marsh system can be designed and managed to provide very high quality water as well as wildlife habitat. It demonstrates that it is possible to take advantage of the high water demand of selected trees to reduce or eliminate reclaimed water discharge to sensitive receiving waters.
