Plan for wastewater plant advances
Airway Heights is one step closer to building its own wastewater treatment plant.
The city purchased 75 acres of private property last month for construction of a $35 million facility, scheduled to be online by 2010. The treated wastewater will be used for irrigation and various industrial purposes.
Currently the city of Spokane treats Airway Heights sewage. However, the contract is up for renegotiation in 2012.
Airway Heights City Manager Chuck Freeman said because of the escalating cost and the water limitations set by Spokane, coupled with the growth of Airway Heights, it’s time to cut the ties. The neighboring towns of Cheney and Medical Lake each have their own sewage-collection systems.
The land, purchased for $310,000, is south of U.S. Highway 2. It is bounded by McFarlane Road on the south, Russell Street on the east, 21st Avenue on the north and Lawson Street on the west.
The city plans to treat the water to a level suitable for reuse at commercial and industrial places such as Spokane Rock Products and Inland Asphalt. The rock company, for example, could use the reclaimed water to wash rocks.
Freeman said the treated water also could be used for irrigation and landscaping at the Airway Heights Correctional Centers and at county and city parks.
Freeman said there will be no “huge tanks” in the neighborhood. Instead, engineers plan to install anaerobic digesters.
These are containers that hold biological products that allow steady-state growth of bacteria-producing methane and carbon dioxide. Although still not widely used, digesters tend to be used for sewage sludge at sewage treatment plants and for animal waste on farms.
Freeman said the water is considered as clean as drinking water.
Another plan being studied is the creation of a reservoir that would hold 95 million gallons of water. The pond primarily would be used to store water during the winter when companies such as Spokane Rock Products wouldn’t need it. U.S. Highway 2, between Ziegler Street and Craig Road, is the potential location of the pond.
“The pond is just extra,” Freeman said. “The more we can capture and sell, the more cost effective this will be.”
The plant will be paid for through a combination of bonds, low-interest loans and Airway Heights’ own collection system. Esvelt Environmental Engineering and Century West Engineering Corp., both of Spokane, are working on the project.
Engineer Larry Esvelt said documents have been submitted to the state departments of Ecology and Health, and revisions are being made.
Freeman said the schedule for the plant is dependent on the finances. Construction could begin as early as 2006 with completion in 2007 or 2008 if adequate funding is available. However, a 2010 completion is more realistic with a second-phase design commencing in 2011 with completion in 2013.