Community

Community Engagement

Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin (SASM) staff actively seeks opportunities to engage with residents, students, community groups, and business members in our service area. It is our goal to work together to ensure we are offering the highest quality wastewater services and engage in pollution prevention programs.

Being a part of community activities allows us to hear directly from customers, as well as discuss the role the Agency undertakes to safely process your domestic waste, provide updates on new options we are exploring for sustainable water resources and renewable energy as well as provide information on pollution prevention to safeguard homes and businesses while protecting our environment.

The best way to protect water quality and the environment is by preventing pollution before it happens. And prevention is a simple task. It's much less expensive when compared to the cost of cleaning up!

Awards & Honors

The Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin (SASM) has received numerous awards over the years for our part in reaching out to and educating our community about ways to help in the protection of our environment. In 2000, SASM received the Plant of the Year Award (Less than 10 MGD) from the California Water Environment Association.

The Agency serves as a member in a multi-agency wastewater public outreach and education program known as the Wastewater Treatment Agencies of Marin County. The program has won the Public Education Program of the Year Award from the California Water Environment Association (CWEA) in 2015, 2012 and 2009. This award recognizes efforts by California wastewater agencies that have developed and implemented outreach programs intended to impact and educate the local community ranging from school presentations to public awareness booths at local fairs and farmer's markets. The Wastewater Agencies of Marin County provides a program which educates the public on environmental and public health issues related to sanitary sewers and wastewater treatment. The Wastewater Agencies of Marin County is comprised of the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin, Central Marin Sanitation Agency, Las Gallinas Valley Sanitation District, Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary District, and Sanitary District Number 5 of Marin County.

In addition to the Public Education Program of the Year Awards, the program has also received awards from the CWEA Redwood Empire Section for the Community Engagement and Outreach at the Large Budget Category in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011.

Laboratory

The SASM Laboratory plays a critical role in protecting public and environmental health by providing process control and regulatory monitoring.

Under current state and federal water quality regulations, SASM performs approximately 18,000 tests each year to monitor the wastewater, recycled water, groundwater and biosolids for constituents such as conventional pollutants, metals, toxic organic compounds, and pathogens (disease-causing organisms). The operations staff at SASM utilizes test data to help optimize wastewater treatment processes and monitor the quality of non-potable and recycled water.