News, stories and insights from the SFPUC

SFPUC Extends Popular Emergency Residential Customer Assistance Program Through the End of the Year

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is extending its Emergency Residential Community Assistance Program, which is designed to help residential customers struggling to pay their water, sewer and Hetch Hetchy power bills during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program which launched in May, was originally set to expire today, but will now be expanded through the end…

Urban Watershed Stewardship Grant Funds Garden Spaces Across San Francisco

The SFPUC recently awarded Urban Watershed Stewardship Grants to two local nonprofits: Climate Action Now and San Francisco Parks Alliance. Each year, the SFPUC’s Urban Watershed Stewardship Grant provides funding for community-based projects which help manage stormwater using ecologically based designs known as “green infrastructure (GI)”. GI is a set of engineered, sustainable stormwater management tools…

Celebrated Artist Walter Kitundu Awarded Public Art Commission for New Alameda Creek Watershed Center

Honoring the people, ecology and history of the Alameda Creek Watershed Artist, musician, and educator Walter Kitundu has been selected by the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) to create a multimedia public art installation for the SFPUC’s new Alameda Creek Watershed Center in Sunol. Spanning 660 square miles, the…

An Essential Worker & Father’s Message to Wear a Mask

Tomio Nakadegawa is a Chief Stationary Engineer at the SFPUC’s Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant. On March 19, 2020, Governor Newsom issued an Executive Order directing all residents to stay home, except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of essential critical infrastructure sectors. This order included the wastewater sector. For months, Nakadegawa has been getting up each morning…

Pollution Prevention Week: Help Keep Pollution Out of The Bay and Ocean

When pollutants are poured down drains or flushed down toilets in the city, these substances have a direct impact on not only our wastewater treatment, but also the wider waterways that surround us here in San Francisco. As part of Pollution Prevention Week, we are highlighting the ways in which we work to monitor and…

Linda Candelaria is creating sustainability through Pollution Prevention

For Linda Candelaria who serves as the Acting Pretreatment Program Manager at the SFPUC, having a job that protects Mother Nature from pollution is something that didn’t happen by chance. “I have always felt a connection to nature and have gravitated towards it, ” said Linda. Linda and her husband are rock and ice climbers…

SFPUC Kicks Off Pollution Prevention Week

This week we are celebrating National Pollution Prevention Week. Here in San Francisco we are highlighting the role of the SFPUC’s Pollution Prevention Program in ensuring we continue to protect public health and the environment. So many of us enjoy outdoor recreation activities and making the most of the beautiful sights and sounds that San Francisco…

United for Infrastructure: Sabrina Suzuki Rises to the Challenges of Community Engagement During Shelter-in-Place

While praising our teams in the field who work to make our citywide infrastructure upgrades possible, we’d also like to showcase teams that work behind desks communicating with the community about these critical projects. Sabrina Suzuki joined the SFPUC External Affairs team with over a decade of experience in communications outreach. Her on boarding also…

How Hetch Hetchy Power Helped the Salesforce Transit Center to #RebuildBetter

The Salesforce Transit Center in downtown San Francisco is more than a regional transit hub—it’s a destination. Overseen by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, it features a beautiful 5.4-acre public park, service for numerous transit systems, trendy restaurants, shops and more. And it’s all powered by 100% greenhouse gas-free electricity supplied by Hetch Hetchy Power. As San Francisco’s…

Stormwater Schoolyards: Joining the Fight to Protect Our Sewer Infrastructure

San Francisco’s combined sewer system treats both the wastewater from our homes and offices, and the stormwater that falls from the sky (approximately 10 billion gallons a year) and lands on our paved surfaces when it rains. By leveraging a public-private partnership approach, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is well on its way…