A state agency board unanimously approved a five-year discharge permit Friday for Lodi's White Slough Water Pollution Control Facility after a 35-minute hearing in Clovis.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board voted 6-0 to approve the permit. No one spoke at the hearing against the proposal.
"We're pleased they adopted the permit," said Lodi Public Works Director Richard Prima. "We have a lot of work to do. The permit has a lot of new requirements that we're gearing up to meet, but it's doable."
Lodi in January 2005 became the first city in San Joaquin County to begin sending its sewage through a third level of treatment, leaving water that can be used to irrigate food crops. The city also converted its disinfection system from chlorination to one using ultra-violet light, eliminating hazardous chemicals from the process.
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