Sacramento Area Sewer District’s free Echo Water Resource Recovery Facility (Echo Water Facility) public tours are educational and free for adults and children 12 and older.

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Reservations are now being accepted for the Sacramento Area Sewer District’s free EchoWater Resource Recovery Facility (EchoWater Facility) public tours from April to October.

The Sacramento Area Sewer District (SacSewer) provides service to residential, commercial and industrial customers throughout unincorporated Sacramento County; the cities of Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Rancho Cordova and Sacramento; West Sacramento; and the communities of Courtland, Locke and Walnut Grove. The district is governed by a 17-member Board of Directors: five Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, five Sacramento City Council members, two Elk Grove City Council members, and one representative each from Yolo County and the cities of Citrus Heights, Folsom, Rancho Cordova and West Sacramento.

According to the Sacramento Area Sewer District’s website, it is the second largest sewage collection utility in California, and owns the Echo Water Resource Recovery Facility, the second largest water resource recovery facility of its kind in the nation.

Beginning next month, the public will have an opportunity to learn more about the water resource recovery facility, where an average of 151 million gallons of sewage is treated daily.

Located near Elk Grove, the Echo Water Facility Public Tour offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the recovery facility collects and treats sewage, manages and recovers natural resources, and protects the environment for the 1.6- million people it serves.

“Our public tours offer the community a unique opportunity to experience firsthand how we’re setting the bar for excellence in utility management and environmental sustainability,” said SacSewer’s communications director Nicole Coleman. “We invite everyone to join us for a tour, ask questions and learn how the critical work we do is shaping a more sustainable future.”

SacSewer’s free public tours run from April through October and are open to anyone interested in learning about sewage collection and treatment, sustainability and environmental stewardship. Children under 12 are not permitted on public tours and adults must accompany tour participants who are minors.

The three-hour tour includes a 60-minute classroom presentation and a 120-minute walking and bus portion.

Tour participants will gain a deeper understanding of what happens after they flush their toilets, wash their dishes or do laundry and how these everyday actions connect to a vast, sophisticated treatment process designed to protect the environment and public health.

Closed-toed shoes are required as tour groups will walk through industrial areas.

For more information about the Echo Water Resource Recovery Facility public tours, including tour dates and registration details, visit SacSewer.com/tours. To experience a virtual tour, visit sacsewer.com/virtual-tours.

For more information about the Sacramento Area Sewer District, go online to sacsewer.com.