SITE INFORMATION AND CORRESPONDENCE

Home Browse Search

CENTRAL VALLEY REGIONAL WATER QUALIT CONTROL BOARD lax RI�RT 30 July 1990 DISCHARGER: Simpson Paper Company, Ripon Mill LOCATION & COUNTY: Ripon, San Joaquin County CONTACT(S): Charles Dickens, Jr. , Chemical Engineer INSPECTION DATE: 17 May 1990 INSPECTED BY: Ton Vorster, Twila Leclerc ACCOMPANIED BY: Charles Dickens, Jr. FACILITY DESCRIPTION: Simpson Paper Company, located in Ripon, manufactures paper from pulp. Process water is added to blocks of pulp to make a slurry which is made into paper. Dyes, starch, and alum are used in the process. The water that drains from the paper is recycled to be used in the slurry. The holding tank is dumped when colors are changed, 2 to 3 times per day. Flow from this process is approximately 900,000 gallons per day (gpd) . The brine from the water softener and the mill effluent is discharged to a circular primary clarifier. The clarifier effluent is discharged to two 5-ft-deep ponds in series. A third pond contains overflow from Pond 2 and is usually dry. Effluent from the second pond is disposed of on-site to tow percolation fields, approximately 20 acres each. Pond effluent is discharged to one field for ten days, and then to the other for ten days. During the summer, effluent is also used to irrigate a 60-acre in-site walnut orchard. Clarifier sludge is disposed of in an on-site sludge pond. Sanitary wastes are disposed of to the City of Ripon' s sewer system. The facility also contains an electric cogeneration plant. Water supplied to the cogeneration plant is treated by a reverse osmosis (RO) filtration unit. The 4-stage RO process removes 95% of the dissolved solids from the water, used as steam. The steam can then be recycled without particles clogging the system and damaging the generator turbine blades. The RO effluent goes directly to the second pond. Water at the facility is supplied by three on-site wells. Simpson has an extensive ground water monitoring well system which includes 22 observations wells, 4 of which belong to Nestle, and 3 water supply wells. OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS: On 17 May 1990, Ton Vorster and I inspected Simpson Paper for compliance with Waste Discharge Requirements Order No. 83-001 . We were accompanied by Charles Dickens , Jr. , Chemical Engineer. Samples were taken from the clarifier effluent to be sampled for BOD, sulfate, specific conductance (EC) , and TDS (filterable residue) . We took samples from the second pond near the RO effluent pipe to be analyzed for EC and TDS (filterable residue) . Water in the clarifier was milky-white and had a very strong sulfur odor.