City Creek Water Treatment Plant Reconstruction Project
Work 60 percent completed
October 12, 2005
Robert Sperling, PE
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The main components of the project are:
- Demolition and construction of a new administration and chemical building to meet current seismic standards, providing a safe and pleasing environment for the employees of the facility and ensuring that chemicals used in the treatment process will be less likely to intrude into the canyon’s ecosystem.
- Abatement of asbestos and lead-based paints throughout the facility to protect the facility’s staff and protect the surrounding environment.
- Modernization of monitoring instruments and computer control systems to provide more reliable and efficient control of the facility.
- Replacement of worn-out equipment in the coagulation building to provide more reliable equipment and more efficient treatment.
- Upgrade of the sand filters to provide more efficient treatment.
- Demolition of the Pleasant Valley Reservoir to eliminate a hazard and eyesore and restoration of the site to blend in with the canyon environment.
The treatment plant is located about 3 miles up City Creek Canyon, a popular recreational area for thousands of users. Because of the demolition of the Pleasant Valley Reservoir it was necessary to close the canyon for an 8-week period to accommodate three thousand truck loads of dirt which were hauled to fill to grade the reservoir site. There have been other sporadic closures necessary for construction activities at the water treatment site.
The project is about sixty percent finished with most of the building exteriors near completion. The remainder of the project consists of installing equipment and landscaping. The project will be completed by the spring of 2006. This is the first phase of a three-phase project with succeeding phases to include seismic upgrades of the remainder of the plant, replacement of sedimentation equipment and installation of equipment to meet future drinking water requirements.
The upgrades to the City Creek Water Treatment Facility will provide a modern, more reliable facility that will contribute to providing high quality drinking water to the City’s customers.