Cedar Rapids wastewater plant begins $318 million modernization

CEDAR RAPIDS — Work has begun on updating and modernizing the plant that treats the wastewater from the Cedar Rapids metro area.

The project at the Water Pollution Control plant, at 7525 Bertram Rd. SE in Cedar Rapids, will take until the end of 2029 or early 2030 to complete.

The work — nine years in the planning — will cost $318 million. That’s down $30 million from the original contract price because of negotiations with the contractor, according to Roy Hesemann, utilities director for the city of Cedar Rapids.

The plant was built in the 1970s and opened in 1980, so it’s 45 years old. Over the years, it’s gone through major upgrades, which extended what is typically a 20- to 30-year life span for sewer plants in cities this size.

But those upgrades have reached the end of the line.

“Much of the (plant's) technology has long become obsolete,“ Hesemann said.

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Plant drains 700 miles of sewer pipe

The Water Pollution Control Facility is the final stop for more than 700 miles of sewer pipes, where the waste is treated before it is returned to the Cedar River.

The plant serves an area with a population of about 190,000, including Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha, Robins and Palo.

But the plant — designed to handle industrial-strength waste — can treat as much as 125 million gallons of residential and industrial wastewater, equivalent to what 1.9 million people produce.

For that reason, most of the modernization work is plant rehabilitation and not adding capacity, Hesemann said.

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“The designed plant capacity is well above our current average usage,” he said. “This is one of the reasons Cedar Rapids is attractive to ‘wet’ industry. However, based on the design of the renovation, we will have the opportunity to add capacity in the future as needed.”

The plant, he added, should be able to handle the new economic development coming to southwest Cedar Rapids, such as new warehouses and water-hungry data centers.

The plant, Hesemann said, is one of few “advanced wastewater treatment” facilities in Iowa. “Thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of economic activity depend upon the facility,” according to an online statement.

Hesemann seconded that, saying the plant is attractive to industries who don’t want to treat wastewater on-site.

Also, he said, the rates charged for wastewater treatment are competitive, which allows for growth.

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Updates include anaerobic digesters

Each update to the plant will be brought online as it is completed, Hesemann said.

One upgrade adds anaerobic digesters, which will do a better job cleaning the water coming into the plant, with less impact on the environment, he said.

A federal official said in September the digesters — described as “invisible infrastructure” — will set the Cedar Rapids plant apart from waste treatment plants in other cities.

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“What makes Cedar Rapids’ effort unique is the fact that it's recapturing these gases that otherwise would just go up into the air, and it allows them to transform these gases into natural gas that powers our homes, our businesses and so forth,” said Bruno Pigott, acting assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “It's really helping Cedar Rapids move to a net-zero wastewater treatment facility.”

Where the dollars will come from

The plant’s modernization project started out with an initial engineer’s cost estimate of $277.5 million, plus a $5 million allowance.

The city received two bids, the lowest of which — from Bowen Engineering Corp. — was $348 million. At the time, city staff said the $70 million price difference was attributed to local labor market conditions.

Hesemann said the city has saved $30 million from the $348 million bid through negotiations with the contractor, Bowen Engineering Corp. of Indianapolis.

For example, using microfiber instead of macrofiber in the concrete will save nearly $250,000, he said. More cuts could come as the contractor and engineering team continue to look for cost reductions, he said.

“The biggest item removed from this project includes the backup generators and the building to house them ... (which) can be delayed by a few years and put out as a separate project,“ Hesemann said. ”This allows local contractors to bid on it and possibly reduce the overall cost by having this as a stand-alone project.“

Those new generators are to provide backup power for the new equipment being installed. The plant already has adequate on-site power to operate, as demonstrated after the 2020 derecho, when it ran “for days purely on on-site generation power,” Hesemann said.

The city is hoping to receive approximately $37 million from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in 2022 to help fund the work, though that funding “may be in jeopardy, given recent issues at the federal level,” Hesemann said.

In addition, Cedar Rapids has $36.7 million set aside for the project because it’s been gradually increasing wastewater rates and saving the money, knowing the modernization project was in the offing.

“Generally, Cedar Rapids has annual rate increases for water and wastewater to keep up with inflation and plant needs,“ Hesemann said. “These small annual increases keep us from having to implement sudden, double-digit or even 100-plus-percent increases when capital is needed, as seen in other cities.”

He said residents and industry have seen slightly higher increases — 1 percent to 2 percent — in the past few years in anticipation of the project.

“Rates going forward are projected to remain well within the predictable historical increases," Hesemann said.

For the remainder of the project, the city will rely on low-interest state loans. Those loans will come from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, administered by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Iowa Finance Authority. The city would pay back the loan over the next 20 to 30 years.

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Corrosive nature of wastewater

The Water Pollution Control facility has a $62.7 million budget this fiscal year.

About $16 million of that goes to maintain the waste collection system (sewers), 11 lift stations and other upstream infrastructure. Labor, chemicals, electricity and debt service are the other major costs, Hesemann said.

He noted some materials used at the plant wear out faster than in a normal environment due to the corrosive nature of wastewater. Even high-grade materials, such as stainless steel and titanium, are adversely affected.

The WPC Facility seeks the best price for all the materials it uses, but some are so specialized there are no alternatives, Hesemann said, noting the city has to buy some supplies from original equipment manufacturer vendors.

Whether more employees will be needed after the plant update is completed remains to be seen.

“We think project maintenance costs will go down with the new processes and equipment in place, so operational costs overall should remain relatively flat over time," Hesemann predicted.

Flood protection

Ten years ago, the city moved to protect the plant from future flooding.

The facility was inundated in the historic 2008 flood. In late 2014, a $21 million flood wall and pump station were added at the plant, designed to withstand a Cedar River flood 3 feet higher than the 2008 crest, which was 31.12 feet.

Odors ‘should be minimal’

Though odors wafting from the plant to surrounding residential areas are much less of a problem now than in past years, they are still sometimes noticeable.

Will the update do an even better job at containing odors?

"We have worked with Iowa State University to evaluate potential odors from the new processes being utilized as part of the rehabilitation project,“ Hesemann said. ”From their evaluations, odors should be minimal.

“We always strive to be good neighbors and that includes reducing odors. ”

He said Linn County Public Health parked an odor monitoring trailer outside the plant before and after a $7 million odor reduction project in 2016. The testing documented “significant reductions” in odor emissions, he said.

“While odor elimination is impossible, we are dedicated to providing a safe work environment while having minimal impact on our surroundings,” he said. “The technology we are incorporating reportedly will have minimal odors associated with it."

How you can help city’s wastewater

Hesemann said residents and other users can help create a healthier and more efficient wastewater processing plant by not flushing wipes.

“Though they may be labeled as ‘flushable,’ personal hygiene or baby wipes do not degrade in the collection system enough to avoid causing major issues like plugging up pumps, screens, and processes,” Hesemann said.

Instead of flushing, put the wipes in your garbage, he said.

Also, don’t flush medications.

“Treatment plants are not designed to remove chemicals from medications, and they can end up passing through the plant into the receiving stream,” he said.