South Coast Beach Communities Septic to Sewer

An impassioned plea for clean water initiated by the South Coast Beach surfing community was fully realized over 15 years later when the third and final private residential beach community was connected to the Carpinteria Sanitary District system. The long and arduous journey through funding, legal, environmental, political, and public opinion challenges took off when the Heal The Ocean (HTO) group met with homeowners and discovered that they also wanted to correct their problematic septic systems. They immediately contacted the district, which directed them to us.

Converting 132 private residences within the Rincon Point, Sandyland Cove, and Sand Point Road beachfront communities to the public sewer required 13,900 linear feet of high density polyethylene (HDPE) force main, an HDPE lateral line to each property, and 132 grinder pump stations. Both horizontal directional drilling and traditional trenching methods were used.

Overlapping Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, encroaching onto Highway 101, and traversing a bridge over an active rail line, as well as being located adjacent to the environmentally-sensitive Carpinteria Salt Marsh Preserve, this project involved a range of permitting and approvals from both counties, the City of Carpinteria, LAFCO, RWQCB, Caltrans, and UPRR. And it didn’t end there. This massive project also required extensive private property easements, a voluminous Environmental Impact Report, encroachment permits, and multiple subconsultants and contractors.

Serving as an extension of the District, we kept the project moving forward, providing all of the engineering design, studies, surveying, assessment district engineering, construction permitting assistance, construction management, and inspection.

A five time award-winning endeavor, the South Coast Beach Communities Septic to Sewer project’s challenges were well worth overcoming. The dedicated surfers at Rincon Point can now safely enjoy one of their most loved activities. Now that’s epic.