By CARA LORELLO
Staff Reporter
The city of Airway Heights received a $2.9 million water quality grant from Washington State Department of Ecology for its new wastewater treatment and reclamation project, which is currently awaiting construction.
City officials were notified on Aug. 1 they were the recipients of this grant, which is the first allocation of a $5 million hardship grant that will go toward construction of the facility, to be located on a 75,000-acre plot south bounded by McFarlane Road on the south and 21st Avenue on the north. It's all being financed mostly through low-interest state loans, state and federal grants.
City Administrator Albert Tripp said the design phase of this project is now over.
“It all goes to construction from this point forward,” Tripp said. Construction starts in summer of next year and lasts through 2010, with a 2011 start up date scheduled.
The other $2.1 million will be awarded in 2010, as grant cycles run on a biennial schedule and funds are determined by cities' existing sewer rates. The number of requests statewide for water quality grants Tripp said was large this year, totaling $280 million this cycle.
“Our project ranked number 12 statewide, of 64 applications [awarded grants],” Tripp said of Airway Heights, which got ranked just above the city of Cheney, awarded a similar size grant for expansions to its municipal water treatment plant. “Grants like this are imperative, but the caveat to that always is that they're very competitive.”
The city currently pays for wastewater services through the city of Spokane, and is pursuing this project to meet increasing demands for service for its growing community, and eliminate its current discharges to the Spokane River. Residents can expect to pay less on their monthly bills, Tripp said, and see their current services enhanced.
Plans to improve the city's wastewater issues started five years ago when officials recognized the area's current water issues might impact residents long-term. Many options were considered before the city opted to build its own facility with a reclamation component.
The plant will treat wastewater to “ultra” clean Class A, or the highest water quality level to be used for three targeted non-potable needs: land/crop irrigation, commercial/industrial use, and aquifer recharge.
Officials plan to use some of the reclaimed water for irrigation purposes, which Tripp said has savings benefits over use of potable water for irrigating. The city is in conversations with a number of local agencies and businesses considering contracting irrigation service using reclaimed water. Spokane County ORV Park and Washington Department of Corrections have both expressed interest, he added.
The first phase of the project is estimated at over $35 million, with plant operations functioning at a 1 million gallon per day capacity. Capacity will be raised to 1.5 million gallons per day during its second phase, which should meet the city's projected water needs for the next 20 years. More information regarding this project is available on the city's website at http:///www.cawh.org/water_reclamation_plant.asp
Cara Lorello can be reached at [email protected]
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