Seal Beach Pier Gets First Real Bath in Years

If you’ve been to the Seal Beach Pier recently, you might have noticed it looking a healthier.

With the help of its new pier scrubber/vacuum unit, the city has been able to clean the local landmark for the first time in years.

City staff unveiled the new machine while cleaning off the pier in June, according to Sean Crumby, assistant city manager and director of public works.

“We received numerous compliments on the cleanliness of the pier,” Crumby said. “I would say the response that we’ve seen from the public has been extremely positive. People have been very happy about the pier being clean.”

State regulations had prevented the city from cleaning the pier by hosing it down.

“We used to wash the pier every single week,” Crumby said. “The state basically came down and put a stop to it.”

State regulations require that a limited amount of water – because of the dirt and bird droppings it would contain – fall into the ocean below.

“It’s a problem for timber piers across the state,” Crumby said. “Concrete piers, they have rain water capture systems.”

But timber piers, Crumby said, have gaps between the planks which allow lots of dirty water to fall through.

Crumby said the new scrubber cleans and scrubs the hand rails and pier planks by spraying water onto them and then immediately vacuuming it back up, so that the liquid doesn’t fall to the ocean. 

The city plans to conduct weekly maintenance on the pier.

Seal Beach also recently purchased a new sand scrubber for the beach. The scrubber is dragged behind a small vehicle and acts as a net to capture litter.

“The sand basically passes through the teeth (of the scrubber), and it fluffs up the sand, and it makes it nice under your feet,” Crumby said. “It also filters out any trash left behind.”

For more information,  contact Luis Estevez, Deputy Director of Public Works and Maintenance and Utilities at (562) 431-2527, ext. 1433.

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