Decoto Sanitary District

In September, 1926, a committee of the Decoto Chamber of Commerce was formed to look into a sewage system for Decoto. The committee members were Peter Decoto, Jose Soito, S. K. Anderson, John L. Olson and Will Hurst. Nothing really come from this committee as it was another 10 years before any action was taking on a sewer system.

On April 7, 1936 a bond election was held for the creation of the Decoto Sanitary District and a Board of Directors to run it. Bonds in the total of $50,000 are to be issued after the election. The entire cost of installing the sewer system was estimated to be $114,000. The directors elected were Joseph Caldeira - President, Charles Brown - Secretary, Frank Thomas and A. Amaral.

It was not until 1938 that the bonds were sold and in November, bids for construction of the sewer plant were being received. Some community members were concerned about the sewer system, that it might leach into ground water and the plant would put off bad odors. The rebuttal was that the current septic tanks were far closer to local wells than the sewer system would be.

In December, 1938, a bid was accepted from the Underground Construction Company of Oakland for $17,538. The Hayward Daily Review reported on the start of system; "The initial construction includes an Imhoff tank, operations building and appurtenances, grading of seven acres for filter beds and dykes, and installation of 3,000 feet of distributive piping. The site is on the Garcia property of 15-acres, on the Nursery Road, one-fourth mile West of the Decoto Road." This would place the system in the general area of the business park off of Central Ave.

About 1954, the Decoto Sanitary District was merged with the Union Sanitary District, which still handles the waste water of Union City.