Colo.’s South Fort Collins Sanitation District (SFCSD) has recently completed a $40 million expansion of its wastewater reclamation facility. The project was officially completed on May 28, 2021, ahead of schedule and under budget. The expansion project launched in 2017 and will allow the SFCSD to reach more Northern Colorado customers. Additional project enhancements were added into the scope and were recently completed.
“We’re pleased to have expanded our high-quality services in Northern Colorado,” Jim Ling, board president of the SFCSD, said. “Every drain from all 45,000 customers in our district leads to our facility . . . With this expansion, we’re able to meet rising demand while maintaining our dedication to around-the-clock wastewater management and low rates for all of our customers.”
With more than 400 miles of collection lines delivering wastewater to the wastewater reclamation facility 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year, the expansion project was approached with three goals: to address necessary updates needed to meet new, stricter regulations enacted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment; to reduce the amount of undesirable nutrients that reenter the environment after treatment; and to meet forecasted growth in the Northern Colorado region. According to Colorado Real Estate Journal, Northern Colorado is expected to grow 45 percent by the year 2030.
“Our team for this project was intentionally vetted and carefully selected,” said Chris Matkins, SFCSD district manager. “We worked with each of our stakeholders to choose the best representatives from engineering, management, wastewater treatment plant staff, contractors and board representatives. . . It was also important to us that this remained cash-funded, ensuring customers would not incur debt from the project.”
This project was funded through the sale of taps and impact fees collected during development. With these improvements, the SFCSD was able to control costs and continue to provide wastewater services for a low monthly fee. For the expansion, the district brought on Jacobs Engineering and Hydro Construction to plan and complete the project.
“This project was one of the best projects in my 40-year career,” said David Oerke, PE, BCEE, project manager from Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. Oerke had the opportunity to manage and follow the project through the five phases: study, preliminary design, final design, construction and start-up. “I am honored to have been able to work with such a good client with the team at South Fort Collins Sanitation district, an excellent contractor with Hydro Construction, and a great design and services team through the rest of the Jacobs team.”
The facility will now be able to produce a Class ‘A’ biosolid, which will be reused and recycled instead of disposed of in landfills, as was the previous practice. This change in storage will reduce treatment costs for the plant. The expansion also gives the facility an additional hydraulic capacity of at least one and a half million gallons per day, bringing the facility’s total capacity to six million gallons per day which will allow them to serve future growth in the district.
Other updates include step-feed aeration basins, ultraviolet disinfection equipment, odor control facilities and upgrades to mechanical and electrical equipment. These updates not only allow SFCSD to meet new regulations but also positions the district for cost-effective expansions in the future, as well as increase redundancies at the treatment plant to improve 24/7 service.
Due to efficient planning and execution, the SFCSD was able to add $2.25 million in multiple project enhancements into the scope of the overall undertaking while still coming in under budget. The district was also able to complete the entire project without external financing.
