Officials in Arizona are mulling whether to combine two wastewater treatment plants in an effort to cut costs and improve efficiency.

The Daily Courier reports that lawmakers in Prescott, Arizona, are struggling to decide how to contend with the city's two antiquated wastewater treatment plants. Officials are essentially deciding whether to consolidate the two plants at one location, or if there are other outcomes they could pursue.

The Prescott City Council is debating the issue this week, and it has prompted a fierce debate among residents and lawmakers. The city's two wastewater treatment plants are not functioning optimally, and backers of the consolidation plan affirmed combining the two facilities would improve overall performance.

Critics of such a move, however, said that the city should focus its efforts instead on securing the state funding necessary to upgrade the wastewater treatment facilities. Some experts have urged the city to install phosphorous removal systems in the plants, while other have recommended a massive renovation plan.

Prescott engineering services director Mark Nietupski recently helped explain the issue to some of the city's lawmakers. He noted that the two wastewater treatment plants are not currently satisfying federal and state water quality regulations that will take effect over the course of the next few years.

Still, the city is also devising plans to overhaul one of the wastewater treatment facilities. Nietupski said that he is working with other sewage officials to create a plan that would double capacity at the Airport Wastewater Treatment Plant. The project carries a hefty estimated price tag of between $30 million and $35 million, according to Nietupski.

The improvement plans, however, would substantially improve water quality for local residents, backers of the project say. Nietupski affirmed engineers estimate the construction project will increase the wastewater treatment plant's total daily capacity from 1.2 million gallons to approximately 3.75 million gallons. The plant currently processes only about 1.1 million gallons of effluent per day, according to Nietupski.

The city's other wastewater treatment plant is also in need of repair, according to the news provider. That facility has an operational capacity of nearly 3 million gallons per day, but its average daily load is only about 2.58 million gallons. Consolidating the two wastewater treatment plants could save the city money in the long-term, city manager Craig McConnel said.

"We're looking at the cost of doing that and what the payback might be," he said.

 

Posted on January 26th, 2012 under Wastewater News, Water Regulations