This month’s issue of MSW features some utility profiles that go beyond the standard subject matter, from dealing with disaster to making big community improvements through the use of recycled water.

The floods that ravaged communities north of Denver, Colo., in September of last year made national headlines for weeks. Storms that dumped 8 to 12 inches of rain over a three-day period swept away buildings, bridges, roads and a host of other infrastructure. Several communities were crippled, including Estes Park, served by the Upper Thompson Sanitation District.

While we typically highlight progressive utilities and the best systems, sometimes a different story needs to be told. The Upper Thompson Sanitation District is one of those stories. That’s not to say it isn’t a progressive utility, but the September floods destroyed much of the collections system, and the story of how that utility’s dedicated workers responded and began putting everything back together is the one that unfolds on these pages. 

Much of the district’s collections system was damaged or gone altogether. People had no sewer service. Roads were impassable or completely washed away, but still, district officials kept the public informed and found ways to begin piecing things back together. They brought portable restrooms into neighborhoods. They bought 15,500 feet of PVC pipe to start putting the system back together. They planned and began building temporary sewer systems that in some cases could be later converted to permanent sewers. They also sought the help of other utilities who lent equipment and materials.

There is much work still to be done in the Upper Thompson Sanitation District, but the story of how the utility responded to this disaster is a good one.
Further north, Dawson Creek, British Columbia, has another good story to tell. The city is seated in an area prone to drought and relies on surface water from a local river. The water system was strained by the demands of cattle ranches and the oil and gas industry.

To create a more sustainable system, they got creative. A significant drought in 2006 forced the city to look for a new way to meet the growing demand for water for the oil and gas industry’s nearby fracking operations. They eventually decided to use their treated effluent as a resource, and came up with some conceptual designs for a treatment plant to divert some of the 6,000 cubic meters of effluent they were discharging every day.

When representatives from Shell, one of the companies operating in the area, heard about the plan they approached Dawson Creek with a proposal. If the city would set aside a certain volume of reclaimed water for their use, the company would fund a substantial portion of the construction budget of the new facility.
Shell funded $16.5 million of the project’s $18 million price tag. In exchange, the company received rights to the first 3,400 cubic meters of water reclaimed each day. Shell now relies exclusively on the reclaimed water, and the city is generating revenue from the sale of remaining water, all due to a partnership that provided most of the required funding.

I hope these stories can provide you some insight and inspiration for your own utility operations. Enjoy this month’s issue.

Comments on this column or about any article in this publication may be directed to editor Luke Laggis, 800/257-7222; editor@mswmag.com.