Jacobs has been picked to lead a project at San Francisco's largest wastewater facility, the Southeast Treatment Plant, with PCL Construction as its partner. Staff anticipate a budget of roughly $1 billion. The job is built around one goal: cutting the nitrogen that ends up in San Francisco Bay. And the plant will keep treating the city's sewage while the work goes on.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission selected Jacobs as its progressive design-build contractor for the nutrient reduction project, StreetInsider reports. Jacobs will deliver the work through a joint venture with PCL Construction, Inc., and the pair will design and build the upgrades. The $1 billion figure is an SFPUC estimate.
The same account says the upgrades will be carried out while the plant continues to operate, and that the project is meant to meet updated state and federal environmental requirements. SFPUC Assistant General Manager for Infrastructure Stephen Robinson described it as a major investment to protect San Francisco Bay by reducing nutrients in wastewater.
What the Commission Has Actually Approved So Far
The full billion isn't locked in yet. According to Citizen Portal, the commission authorized an initial $192.7 million preconstruction services award to a Jacobs-PCL San Francisco joint venture. Staff described the anticipated contract budget as $1 billion.
The same account describes the project as regulatory-driven and says a protest filed by Sundt against the award was denied. Final contract value, construction costs and a schedule are not spelled out in the available record.
The SFPUC's own project page offers a larger number. It says the Southeast Treatment Plant Nutrient Reduction Project is budgeted at $1.47 billion in the agency's approved 10-year capital plan. The sources do not explain how that figure relates to the $1 billion contract estimate, so readers should treat the two numbers as separate.
Why Bayview's Plant Matters to the Whole City
Southeast is the workhorse of San Francisco's sewer system. The StreetInsider report says it treats nearly 80% of the city's wastewater, and Water Online reports it handles an average of 57 million gallons per day.
The project aims to reduce the total inorganic nitrogen discharged from the plant. Behind that goal is a regional mandate: the California Regional Water Quality Control Board material calls for Bay wastewater plants to collectively cut dry-weather total inorganic nitrogen loads by 40% from 2022 levels within 10 years.
In July 2024, the board adopted the San Francisco Bay Nutrient Watershed Permit, which sets nitrogen discharge limits for treatment plants, according to Bay Area Clean Water Agencies. That group adds that many dischargers have expressed interest in water quality trading as a compliance option, with program design set for 2026 and 2027. Whether SFPUC would use such a framework is not established.
Money and a Neighboring Project
Federal financing is already in the mix. The U.S. EPA announced a $513 million WIFIA loan to SFPUC to help finance wastewater upgrades. An EPA project page estimates the loan saves the agency $226 million compared with a bond issuance.
PCL is no stranger to the site. Water Online reports SFPUC awarded the company a $121 million fixed-price design-build contract for the plant's Biogas Utilization Project, with Stantec as lead designer. That project will convert raw biogas to renewable natural gas for injection into a nearby Pacific Gas and Electric pipeline, and PCL was scheduled to finish construction in early 2027.
Jacobs' announcement also describes investments in local workforce training, community health and education initiatives, along with company claims of more than 25 years of water design-build experience and more than 150 delivered projects and programs. Those claims come from the Jacobs press release as relayed by StreetInsider and were not independently verified.
