WILLMAR -- Donohue and Associates will discuss Willmar's proposed wastewater treatment plant and relocation and conveyance system project at 7 p.m. Thursday in the council chambers at the Municipal Utilities Building, 700 Litchfield Ave. S.W. The City Council will attend and the public is invited.
In September 2004, the council passed a resolution to move wastewater treatment to a site located about 5.5 miles west of the present plant located in southeast Willmar. In March 2005, Donohue and Associates was hired by the city to provide program management services for planning, designing, constructing and starting the new plant.
Officials say the new plant will be designed and constructed to comply with regulatory requirements, and will meet the needs of projected growth in the service area for the next 20 years.
The planning phase will end in July, and the design phase will begin in late 2006. Construction would last from mid-2007 through 2010. The new plant would begin operation in late 2010.
Donohue and Associates say modifications will be made to the present plant to comply with regulatory requirements until the new plant is built.
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During the planning phase, the consultants studied three possible pipeline interceptor routes for carrying waste to the new plant and are recommending a route along 28th Avenue West to the new site.
The consultants evaluated more than 100 combinations of treatment units for capital and operational costs, and looked at non-economic factors such as odor, safety, reliability, flexibility and expandability before proposing a plant design that they say is cost-effective and simple to construct and operate.
The consultants say a facilities plan will document all processes and construction phases for the collector system and for moving wastewater treatment to the new site. The plan is scheduled to be completed and submitted to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in May.
