New Wastewater Treatment Plant

Work will be starting soon on a 5.2 million dollar wastewater treatment plant. The Plant will replace the current aerated lagoon plant we have now. The City is mandated by the Iowa DNR to have the plant up and running by August 31, 2017, to comply with the new ammonia nitrogen and disinfection limits allowed to be put into Little Bear Creek.

The new plant will increase capacity from 500,000 gallons per day to 620,000 gallons per day.

Construction of the new plant will consist of:

15" discharge line to creek, installation of sewer splitter structures, a bypass to relieve the sanitary sewer main manhole, a duplex submersible lift station (200 gpm) with emergency generator, headworks facilities, in channel spiral screen and flow meter, grit chamber, main plant duplex lift station (500 gpm), equalization lift station (2250 gpm), activated sludge system, final clarifiers, UV disinfection system, and all related accessories necessary to complete the project in accordance with the approved plans and specifications.

This cost also includes the demolition of the old sewer plant, as we will need that area for the new plant.

The plant will still utilize all 3 of the existing lagoons. Two lagoons will be used to store high flows during wet times of the year, that are over the capacity limit that the new plant is able to process in a day. This water will be returned to the plant to be processed when flows entering the plant decrease.

The third lagoon will be used for sludge storage, which will have aeration in it to keep the lagoon from having an offensive odor.