Sewer/Wastewater

The sewer system and wastewater treatment are services that are often taken for granted until a problem erupts and can’t be ignored.  There are over 26,000 homes and businesses that are connected to JCSD’s sewer main, which transports wastewater to our collection facility.    

How does it all work? Wastewater that leaves your home through toilets, shower drains, sinks and other sources is transported through an underground pipe, known as a lateral pipe, which connects your home or business to JCSD’s sewer main.  With the help of gravity, wastewater then travels through the sewer main to a lift station.  When gravity isn’t available to assist, as a result of terrain, pressurized force main pipes help carry wastewater through pipes. 

The terms sewer lift station and sewage pump station are often used interchangeably.  They are both designed to move raw sewage from a lower elevation to a higher elevation through a system of pipes or pumps. The difference between the two is that a sewer pump station moves sewage through a greater distance.

Once sewage arrives at our lift stations, it must be elevated (pumped under pressure) back into a gravity pipeline to continue its journey through the collection systems.  Wastewater eventually makes its way to a treatment facility where it undergoes a process that is closely monitored to ensure the health and safety of the community.

Wastewater that is generated by JCSD’s residential customers in Eastvale is treated at the Western Riverside County Regional Wastewater Authority (WRCRWA) Plant. Wastewater from JCSD’s residential customers in Jurupa Valley is treated at the City of Riverside’s Water Quality Control Plant (WQCP).  Wastewater generated by commercial and industrial customers is transported through the Inland Empire Brine Line (IEBL), which is a pipeline that was constructed to protect the Santa Ana River Watershed from desalter concentrate and various saline wastes. Organizations whose processes create high-saline waste that does not qualify for use or reclamation returns to the region through the municipal sewer system domestic-treatment plants, but does qualify for ocean discharge, can use the IEBL to transport the waste. The IEBL pipeline carries the waste directly to specially-equipped treatment plants operated by the Orange County Sanitation District. After treatment, the waste is discharged to the Pacific Ocean.

JCSD staff is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to assist with sewer emergencies at (951) 685-7434.

Visit the Development Services page for more information about new sewer connections or questions regarding new housing or commercial development. Click here for sewer fees for the years 2020 - 2024.