Salt Lake City Water Reclamation Plant Receives 1998 EPA Region VIII O&M Excellence Award

June 23, 1998

Salt Lake City’s Water Reclamation Plant earns EPA O&M Excellence Award.
On June 5, 1998 in a letter from EPA Region VIII Administrator William P. Yellowtail, notified Jon E. Adams, Water Reclamation Manager, that the plant had been selected to receive the O&M Excellence Award and that the City’s application had been forwarded to EPA Headquarters in Washington DC for national competition.  “I would like to personally commend you and your staff of the wastewater treatment plant for an excellent job of developing and implementing an outstanding operations, maintenance and management program.” He added, “ Your performance exemplifies the importance of a federal, state and local partnership to achieve our joint environmental goals.”

Located at 1365 West 2300 North, the 56 mgd treatment facility treats the sewage waste of the corporate limits of Salt Lake City. First built in 1965, the plant was designed for secondary treatment with trickling filters; later in 1985, short-term aeration was added to the treatment processes. During the 1990s, treatment capacity was increased by 50 percent from 60,000 pounds per day BOD to 90,000 pounds per day BOD to meet the city’s growth demands.

The plant is one of three plants serving the Salt Lake valley’s 750,000 residents, providing treatment for the capitol city and a large daytime population of visitors, businesses and institutions. In 1982, the City Council approved a 20-year 201-Facilities and cash flow Financial Plan and raised sewer user rates and connection fees to finance plant and system improvements.  The plans have been adjusted from time to time, and instead of implementing additional rate increases over the years, three rate decreases were implemented, making Salt Lake City’s sewer rates among the lowest in the United States.

Armed with the approved Master and Financial Plans, the Department of Public Utilities has had an on-going program of improving the treatment plant, operational practices and the collection system. This has paid off with superior operations and results. The treatment plant has earned 6 AMSA “Gold” Awards and one “Silver” Award and currently has operated for 60 consecutive months without a permit violation. The Utah Chapter of the Water Environment Federation has also recognized support divisions, such as the laboratory and pretreatment program, for their outstanding performances.  In conjunction with the plant operations and maintenance, employees have built a strong team dedicated to excellence and environmental stewardship.

The application was prepared under the direction of Jon Adams, Plant Manager. The plant last won the award in 1987.  Jon noted that he waited to submit the application again until the plant had a proven track record of compliance. The perfect performance record was interrupted in 1992 when the plant was treating large concentrations of airport deicing waste. Jon stated, "I felt that the plant's compliance record was the strongest measurement of our commitment to excellence and this year, with 60 months of perfect compliance, it was time to submit another application for the Region VIII award." He is hopeful that the application will be given favorable consideration at the national level.

EPA will make a formal presentation to the employees of the plant in August.