After five years and $83.6 million, the city has finished upgrading the Lompoc Regional Wastewater Reclamation Plant.

The new plant, at 1801 W. Central Ave., treats the wastewater of the city of Lompoc, Vandenberg Village and Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Lompoc Mayor Mike Siminski said a few words at the dedication, saying the renovated  plant would provide the Lompoc Valley’s residents, “the assurance that water they use every day will be effectively treated and returned to the environment, ready for continued use.”

Wastewater Superintendent Susan Halpin thanked her staff, along with the construction management firm of Brown and Caldwell, construction company Parsons, and electrical subcontractor company Smith for work on the upgrade project.

The upgraded facilities were built, sometimes literally, on top of the old facility, which had to continue operating to serve the surrounding communities. Siminski likened the feat to trying to fix a car engine while it was still running.

Halpin credited the plant’s operators for handling the technical demands of the upgrade.

“They kept our 1974 system running, even with 1959 digesters still part of it, for a two-year construction period,” Halpin said.

Throughout the upgrades, the plant still maintained a spotless record, maintaining mandatory water quality limits, and never suffering a sewage spill, said Halpin.

Funding for the project came from city-issued bonds and a loan from the state Water Resources Control Board. Repayment of the loans has taken the form of higher sewer utility rates for the three communities which use the plant.

After the dedication, Halpin said she was happy that the results of her staff, the designers, engineers and construction workers were finally visible for everyone to see.

According to Halpin, portions of the new water treatment system came online in March. The rest were put into operation earlier this month.

The plant, now capable of filtering out more pollutants, and doing it with less chemical tampering, is expected to last at least another 30 years, Halpin said.

Patrick Lam, a representative from the state Water Control Board, who attended the dedication, said he was  happy to see the facility.

“It’s a very good system — a proven system and very dependable,” Lam said.

Self-guided walking tours were available at the plant after the ceremony, allowing the public to see the end results of what goes down the drain.

Among the sites were the old, decaying structures used for the old plant processes, now decommissioned, and surrounded by modern replacements.

The area duck population has acclimated to the change in the facilities, hanging out in the lagoon ponds, where processed water is kept, allowing the heavier “biomass” to settle on the bottom.

The final process in the filtration system has been completely changed. The new plant featured a series of high-powered ultraviolet light filters, which replaces the old filtering method of using harsh chlorination, before the water is released back into nature, via San Miguelito Creek and the Santa Ynez River.

As a souvenir for attending the dedication, guests were offered rolls of toilet paper, stamped with “LRWRP Upgrade 2009.”

Someone in the audience made the obvious joke, that everyone would be returning the toilet paper sooner or later.