Starting in Kings Beach to Tahoe City, sewage is collected from the North Tahoe and Tahoe City public utility districts before being exported from the Basin through a 17-mile network of pipe.

The wastewater travels downhill along the Highway 89/Truckee River corridor, picking up more discharged wastewater from Alpine Springs County Water District and the Squaw Valley Public Service District, and finally from Truckee Sanitary District.

The five agencies that contribute wastewater to the system comprise the Tahoe-Truckee Sanitation District.

All told, an average of about 5 million gallons per day flow through the pipeline to the advanced treatment plant near the Truckee Tahoe Airport, with peak events like the Fourth of July holiday generating up to 9 million gallons in a day.

The wastewater goes through three levels of treatment at the plant, including bacteria that remove nitrogen and phosphorus. The treated water is then injected into an subsurface aquifer to eventually replenish the area’s groundwater.

<i>— Information from Marcia Beals, Jay Parker and Jim Lobato of the Tahoe-Truckee Sanitation Agency</i>