Wastewater treatment system upgrades in Douglas County are up for review by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Projects include plans to upgrade the municipal wastewater treatment facilities in Solon Springs, Parkland and Superior.
In Solon Springs, the village is working to correct current treatment deficiencies. The nearly $5.5 million project is expected to enhance reliability and performance of the 30-year-old system for the next 20 years. The system has exceeded its intended design life, according to the DNR.
Planned improvements include replacing a defective influent sewer main, upgrading the flow monitoring system, lining and rehabilitating the existing treatment ponds, constructing a new treatment pond and replacing various deteriorated structures.
The village plans to apply for a low interest loan through the DNR's Clean Water Fund to pay a portion of the costs. Stimulus money from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act will offset those costs because additional money was made available in the Section 154 Environmental Infrastructure Fund. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau, created the fund to help communities in the four counties adjacent to Lake Superior pay for infrastructure improvements that protect the lake and adjacent watersheds. The program is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
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The average residential user can expect their costs to increase from the current $15 per month to about $47 per month, depending on how much grant funding the village can generate.
The Parkland Sanitary District No. 1 is planning to install a new sanitary sewer collection system just south of the city of Superior. The project has been decades in planning as the town works to address waste treatment problems with aging and substandard privately owned septic systems.
The nearly $10.5 million project includes installation of grinder pump stations and lateral lines to individual properties with connection to a low-pressure sanitary collection system. Several larger pumping stations would convey the town's wastewater to the city of Superior's Wastewater Treatment Plant. The project includes construction of a holding pond designed to store wastewater during extreme wet weather periods to avoid overwhelming the city's system. The cost for the average residence is expected to cost $71 per month over the 20-year design life of the system.
The sanitary district plans to apply for assistance through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Grant and the Section 154 Fund.
The city of Superior is planning to replace undersized sections of sanitary sewer pipe leading to pumping station No. 4 at Cumming Avenue north of North Third Street and No. 7 on East Second Street in the southeast portion of the city.
The improvements, which are expected to cost $168,000, are being done to reduce the potential for sewage backup into basements and sewage overflows into the environment during wet weather conditions. The city plans to apply for assistance through the DNR's Clean Water Fund. The project is not expected to increase costs for the average user.
All three projects are open for public comment. For more information or to comment on any of the projects, contact Steve Smith, wastewater plan review engineer, at P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707, (608) 266-7580 or stephen.smith@wisconsin.gov . Comments on the Solon Springs and Parkland projects must be submitted verbally, by e-mail or in writing by 4:30 p.m. June 19. Comments on the Superior project will be accepted until June 24.
