Scheduled for startup in 1976, the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District’s new wastewater treatment plant near Concord, California, will be the largest water reclamation plant of its kind in the Far West and the first completely computer controlled facility in the world. The 30-mgd plant (120-mgd ultimate) is designed to recycle domestic sewage to be used as industrial process and cooling water for heavy industries located within the San Francisco Bay area. The new plant will feature on of the world’s most advanced treatment systems, combining lime clarification in the primaries, biological-nitrification-denitrification, and a two-stage sludge conditioning process that includes lime recovery. The $48 million facility was designed by the firm of Brown and Caldwell, Consulting Engineers. The project was financed 87.5 percent by the State and Federal governments, with the balance from local funds.