FOG (Fats, Oils, and Grease) in your household drains can create blockages that turn a great holiday into a hot mess. Avoid sloppy, costly backups into your home and overflows that can enter local waterways, harming wildlife and the environment. NEVER put fats, oils, or grease down your drains or into storm drains, which flow untreated to our creeks and San Francisco Bay. Bring your used cooking oil and grease to the Republic Services Customer Service Center at 42600 Boyce Road in Fremont for FREE disposal Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Small amounts of cooled-down cooking oil and grease can be placed in an empty soup or pet food can with absorbent paper and discarded with your other garbage.

For more information visit www.StopFOG.com, call Republic Services at (510) 657-3500, or call Union Sanitary District at (510) 477-7500.

Union Sanitary District recently unveiled its redesigned website, revealing a dynamic, mobile-friendly format with District information organized for easy access.

USD’s goal was to create a website that reflects the District’s commitment to customer service. The new design is structured so USD’s residential, commercial and industrial customers can quickly connect to information and services they need.

The District reached out to a customer stakeholder group for suggestions at the beginning of the project, incorporating many recommendations into the final design.

New features include a “How Do I” menu to answer frequently asked questions, a location map showing USD’s many capital improvement projects throughout its service area, and a page highlighting the District’s 33-acre Alvarado treatment plant in Union City. The “Trending Now” section on the home page gives users a glimpse of the website’s most popular information. Tips about sewer safety and repairs, preventing odors, and protecting the environment are easier to find in the new website’s menus, as are details about USD’s Board of Directors, public meetings, rates, budget, and finances.

“We’re proud of the work we do to provide wastewater services to the Tri-Cities, and our new website reflects that by offering greatly improved functionality,” says General Manager Paul R. Eldredge. “USD takes customer service very seriously, and upgrading the website helps us reach out to our community with the District’s most up-to-date and relevant information. We hope everyone enjoys exploring www.unionsanitary.ca.gov, and discovering the many ways USD fulfills its mission to protect public health and San Francisco Bay.”

What would your day be like without access to safe, reliable water supplies? Tooth brushing, toilet flushing, showers, laundry, cooking...how would you fare?

USD is joining hundreds of organizations sponsoring “Imagine A Day Without Water” on Thursday, September 15, 2016. Imagine a Day Without Water is a national education campaign to raise awareness of the important role dependable delivery of water and wastewater services plays in our daily lives, and the need for investment in the infrastructure that makes these services possible.

Sign the campaign petition to encourage investment in America’s aging water/wastewater infrastructure. Pledge to take action to conserve water. For each signature or pledge, Change the Course will restore 1,000 gallons of water to critically dewatered rivers and wetlands across North America.

Our homes and businesses rely on water and wastewater services every day. Join us as we #ValueWater.

Union Sanitary District recently received statewide recognition for our “Leadership School” in-house training program. The California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) presented USD with its Organizational Excellence Award acknowledging the District’s efforts to educate staff about the responsibilities of management and other critical roles while providing training and mentoring to support them in promoting to those positions.

“Like many organizations, the District is continually faced with the retirements of seasoned staff – both management and non-management employees,” says Laurie Brenner, Organizational Performance Program Manager.  “These employees fulfill roles that are critical to our protection of public health and San Francisco Bay. USD’s Leadership School was conceived as an opportunity to develop internal candidates who could not only fill these positions, but like their predecessors, become strong industry leaders.”

The Leadership School’s curriculum is a blend of learning opportunities. Participants complete external college-level business management coursework, attend in-house classes focused on USD-specific policies and processes, and are paired with an executive team mentor to gain insight into what a management role at the District entails.

“The proof of Leadership School’s success is that many graduates have received promotions into management and other positions with higher levels of responsibility – some more than once,” says Brenner.

This is the second statewide award received by USD for the Leadership School program. In 2015, the California Special Districts Association (CSDA) highlighted the value of Leadership School by presenting USD with its Innovative Program of the Year Award.

General Manager Paul R. Eldredge notes that “Leadership School has resulted in promotions from within that provide significant savings in training time and maintain our high productivity levels. This helps us to continue providing customers reliable, cost-effective service.”

USD recently honored 33 Tri-City Industries that achieved 100% compliance with water quality requirements in the 2015 calendar year. The District annually awards Certificates of Merit to those permitted industries within its service area that maintain 100% compliance with all wastewater discharge requirements. In addition, these industries consistently comply with and implement pollution prevention measures, maintain a cooperative working relationship with the District, and demonstrate continuing awareness and understanding of environmental issues and requirements. Several of the recipients received this honor for consecutive years of continued compliance. Read more on USD's Certificate of Merit Program page.

The District is responsible for permitting, inspecting and monitoring certain industries that discharge to its sewer system to ensure compliance with Federal, State and Local environmental regulations. This is done not only to protect the treatment plant from toxic discharges, but also to protect the water quality of San Francisco Bay.