The city of Provo is celebrating the opening of its new water reclamation facility with “Flush Fest.”
The Water Reclamation Facility was a $120 million project to upgrade aging infrastructure. City officials broke ground on the project in September 2020 when the 1956 water systems were deemed to be approaching the end of their lifetimes according to industry standards.
“When I took office, our aging water reclamation facility was approaching failure — a challenge we had to tackle for Provo’s future,” said Mayor Michelle Kaufusi. “Its completion is a vital success that will serve our community and improve Utah Lake for generations to come.”
The old plant was unable to remove phosphorous and nitrogen, the two chemicals that contribute to algal blooms in the lake. New federal regulations also require water treatment facilities to limit phosphate levels, resulting in Provo needing an upgrade, Provo officials told KSL.com last year during a tour of the facility.
After demolishing outdated structures, the city built a power distribution building and a fine screen pump station along with extensive ground improvements. The new plant uses “cutting-edge membrane bioreactor technology” to treat wastewater, capable of processing more than 16 million gallons of sewage a day, the city said in a statement.
Sewage is brought into primary clarifiers at the existing plant before being treated at the new secondary process facility. Water is then transferred to be disinfected at a UV site before being released into a canal that leads to Provo Bay, according to Jenny Calderon, of Water Works Engineers.
“It’s not the type of thing that residents may normally ever think about, but when it is up and running, they’re going to see over the next few years a big improvement in the conditions in Utah Lake,” said KC Becker, regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency.
Flush Fest will be held on Saturday, June 21, at 11 a.m. at the facility, 1685 S. East Bay Blvd. Saturday’s event celebrates Phase 1 of the multiyear project coming online.
The free event will have a ribbon cutting, tours of the treatment plant, food trucks and educational booths that teach about environmental protection.
“I proudly took on the title of ‘the Sewer Mayor’ as we embraced this community need because often the most important work happens underground — unseen but hugely impactful to quality of life,” Kaufusi said.
John Mackey, Division of Water Quality director for the Department of Environmental Quality, said nutrients in Utah Lake will be better controlled by the new reclamation facility.
“This is a brand new plant that will be replacing a plant that is 50 years old. It was getting tired, and the technology was old. Here we are putting in new technology so we can be more effective and efficient in treating of wastewater,” he said.
As the second largest wastewater treatment plant in the state, Provo’s facility will make a “meaningful” difference through the improvements being made by reducing the pollution load in the water, Mackey said.