Grass Valley Water Treatment Plant Reason for Investigation The Nevada County Civil Grand Jury has responsibility to*

Untreated water is supplied to the Grass Valley water treatment plant by the Nevada Irrigation District (NID).

The water treatment plant has a capacity of 5 million gallons of treated water per day. Usage during the summer is about two million gallons per day and during the winter about one million gallons per day.

A well-maintained emergency power system is in place. During plant shutdowns or yearly cleaning of the settling ponds, treated water can be supplied by NID from their Elizabeth George treatment plant, thus assuring a constant supply of treated water to Grass Valley. Alternatively the Grass Valley plant can supply treated water to NID. A 2- million gallon covered reservoir for treated water is sited at the plant and another 2.5- million gallon covered storage tank is located on Empire Street.

Treated water samples are analyzed on a fixed schedule for pH, turbidity, residual chlorine and colliform bacteria at the Grass Valley wastewater treatment plant laboratory. Analyses for copper, lead and other compounds are done at an outside laboratory. All of the compounds analyzed are well below the levels set by the California Department of Health Services. Monthly reports are sent to the state and the state inspects the plant twice a year.

All potable water plant operators and wastewater plant operators are state certified in both disciplines and can operate either plant.

The water treatment plant was in spotless condition and all electrical and mechanical equipment is kept in excellent condition. Since the plant operates automatically there is no need for staffing the second and third shifts each day. Any equipment failures on un-staffed shifts are automatically alarmed and an operator is called out.

The City Council agrees with this finding.

The plant is protected by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Some vandalism has occurred in the past and plans have been made to install an outside electronic monitoring system to detect intruders. RESPONSES e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e · - · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Nec V UEC 5 - 2000 CITY COUNCIL BILL HULLENDER, MAYOR LINDA STEVENS, VICE MAYOR City of PATTI INGRAM GERARD TASSONE Grass Valley JOHN A. TAYLOR GENE HAROLDSEN A CENTENNIAL CITY November 28, 2000 CITY ADMINISTRATOR 125 EAST MAIN STREET Honorable Carl Bryan II GRASS VALLEY, CA 95945 Presiding Judge of the Nevada County Courts (530) 274-4310 FAX: 274-4399 201 Church Street Nevada City, CA 95959 Re: Grass Valley Water Treatment Plant Your Honor, We received the Nevada County Grand Jury's November 3, 2000 report regarding the City's Water Treatment Plant. Pursuant to California Penal Code 933.05, here is the City's response to the findings listed: The City Council agrees with this finding.