SOLON — The construction of a new and larger wastewater treatment plant took a major step forward last week as the City Council approved the purchase of 26 acres of land at a cost of $725,000 for the facility adjacent to the Oakland Cemetery along Hwy. 382 (County Road F16) west of town.
Planning and design for the new facility continues with city staff gathering information and insight, particularly regarding the latest trends in wastewater management.
Public Works Director Scott Kleppe recently attended the American Public Works Association fall conference in Iowa City with Public Works employee Kris Richardson, and Public Works employee Dave Richards and Kleppe attended the Water and Environment Federation’s Technical Expedition Conference in Chicago. “This is the largest conference in the U.S. and the world, and it brings together all of the manufacturers with the cutting-edge technologies, and process equipment and tools to operate wastewater-storm water facilities.”
City Engineer Dave Schechinger (with Veenstra & Kimm) also attended.
“The reason we went was the design of this new sewer plant,” said Kleppe. “We really don’t know what’s out there and this is going to be a good-sized plant and it’s going to have new technology we don’t currently have.”
As an example, Kleppe mentioned an Ultra-Violet (UV) disinfection system produced by five or six manufacturers. “It’s what we’ll be going to,” he said instead of the chlorine-based disinfection at the current facility, which requires removal of the chlorine before the treated water is discharged out.
“It was a mind-blowing event, something I’ve never attended in my 35 years. We took away a lot that we’ll have a lot of conversations on in the future.”
Schechinger provided the Council with an update on the application, permitting, and design process for the new facility as he and Veenstra & Kimm staff work through a 110-page manual produced by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The manual details a lengthy and thorough process for applications and reviews before the first shovel of dirt can be turned on the project. Schechinger explained where the City is in the application and review process noting they are in the midst of a 90-day window awaiting an approval on ‘step 14’ (of 52) before moving on to the next steps. The DNR is experiencing a backlog of applications, he added, due to an influx of new plants being designed to comply with newer and more stringent regulations for water quality. One step in the process, ‘Step 16,’ is about a six-month process to complete, he noted as he reiterated the great amount of work ahead.
“There is a fair amount that goes into this, you can’t just go out and start designing a plant. There’s a lot of upfront work that you have to go through, a lot of environmental impact (studies), you have to do a lot of cost estimating, all of these things have to go into it, and it’s based off of the guidelines the DNR sets. There are 52 steps in this, and we are on step 14 and hoping to get to step 16 in six months. So, you can see that things are going to progress slower than we would hope, but it’s a thorough evaluation and it just takes time. It’s the process and there are certain requirements that are time consuming such as notices to the public and public hearings. So, we’ll continue to push forward on this. A lot goes into this, and I just want everybody to be patient and know that we’re working through it. There’s a lot to be done and we’ll continue to do a thorough evaluation to check all the boxes that are required.”
The City is anticipating the new plant won’t be built and operational for four-to-five years.
City Administrator Cami Rasmussen told the Council they will be receiving monthly updates on the process, and she plans to have a project timeline available to them next month.
City acquires land for new wastewater treatment plant
October 11, 2023
About the Contributor
Chris Umscheid, Editor
Chris Umscheid is the editor of the Solon Economist.