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Independence, MO —
Greg Boettcher has four jars of water to explain his job.
Jar one looks fairly nasty. It’s the untreated water that sewers deliver to the Atherton Wastewater Treatment Plant, flushed from homes and businesses across Eastern Jackson County.
Jar two is seriously nasty. Its the stuff the plant removes and incinerates. Perhaps the less said the better.
Jar three is far clearer. It’s the treated water that leaves the plant, headed a mile or so north to the Missouri River. It has to be clean enough to meet regulatory standards, said Boettcher, executive director of the Little Blue Valley Sewer District.
“And every day we have to meet that limit,” he says, “not just on the good days.”
Finally, jar four – just for perspective – is the less-than-crystal-clear water that flows in the Big Muddy itself.
The plant will be putting out even cleaner water thanks to a facilities upgrade officially begun Wednesday. The project has two main parts:
• A new incinerator – remember jar No. 2 – that will use natural gas rather than coal, like the 25-year-old incinerator it will replace. That means less air pollution and the capacity to tighten up emissions even further should regulations require it in the future. It also should be mean fewer trucks coming and going from the plant.
• A disinfectant facility, online by next April, that uses ultraviolet light to kill bacteria before water leaves the plant.
“This is a very important milestone for the district,” Boettcher said.
Officials hope to have the work done in 2014. They say it will create the equivalent of about 190 jobs, and they said they give a preference to local contractors and other local businesses.
The $53 million project, awarded to Whiting-Turner of Kansas City, came in below the estimated cost of $62 million. The district also is taking advantage of federally subsidized Build America Bond, part of the federal economic stimulus package of 2009. The project doesn’t affect taxes, though sewer district costs are part of what makes up a resident’s sewer bill. Officials say the district is well run financially, and that means the cities it serves are able keep rates below 2 percent of median household income, the threshold they’re aiming for.
“It’s a model that works really, really well,” said Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders, who chairs the sewer district board.
The district covers most of Eastern Jackson County and beyond – a 278-square-mile area with 13 cities from Independence and Sugar Creek to Blue Springs, Raytown, Lee’s Summit, Grandview, Belton and the Raymore area. The district has been around for more than 40 years, created in response to the need to get a handle on what was flowing into the Little Blue River.
“Had each city had to build its own solution, it would have been much more costly,” Boettcher said.
Greg Boettcher has four jars of water to explain his job.
Jar one looks fairly nasty. It’s the untreated water that sewers deliver to the Atherton Wastewater Treatment Plant, flushed from homes and businesses across Eastern Jackson County.
Jar two is seriously nasty. Its the stuff the plant removes and incinerates. Perhaps the less said the better.
Jar three is far clearer. It’s the treated water that leaves the plant, headed a mile or so north to the Missouri River. It has to be clean enough to meet regulatory standards, said Boettcher, executive director of the Little Blue Valley Sewer District.
“And every day we have to meet that limit,” he says, “not just on the good days.”
Finally, jar four – just for perspective – is the less-than-crystal-clear water that flows in the Big Muddy itself.
The plant will be putting out even cleaner water thanks to a facilities upgrade officially begun Wednesday. The project has two main parts:
• A new incinerator – remember jar No. 2 – that will use natural gas rather than coal, like the 25-year-old incinerator it will replace. That means less air pollution and the capacity to tighten up emissions even further should regulations require it in the future. It also should be mean fewer trucks coming and going from the plant.
• A disinfectant facility, online by next April, that uses ultraviolet light to kill bacteria before water leaves the plant.
“This is a very important milestone for the district,” Boettcher said.
Officials hope to have the work done in 2014. They say it will create the equivalent of about 190 jobs, and they said they give a preference to local contractors and other local businesses.
The $53 million project, awarded to Whiting-Turner of Kansas City, came in below the estimated cost of $62 million. The district also is taking advantage of federally subsidized Build America Bond, part of the federal economic stimulus package of 2009. The project doesn’t affect taxes, though sewer district costs are part of what makes up a resident’s sewer bill. Officials say the district is well run financially, and that means the cities it serves are able keep rates below 2 percent of median household income, the threshold they’re aiming for.
“It’s a model that works really, really well,” said Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders, who chairs the sewer district board.
The district covers most of Eastern Jackson County and beyond – a 278-square-mile area with 13 cities from Independence and Sugar Creek to Blue Springs, Raytown, Lee’s Summit, Grandview, Belton and the Raymore area. The district has been around for more than 40 years, created in response to the need to get a handle on what was flowing into the Little Blue River.
“Had each city had to build its own solution, it would have been much more costly,” Boettcher said.
