Wastewater Treatment Plant Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

The public is invited to the Wastewater Treatment Plant Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to showcase the City’s largest Utility project completed to date. The event will take place on July 12 at 11:30 a.m. In the event of rain, the ceremony will be held under a tent. Parking is limited.

BACKGROUND

Construction of this improvement was necessary in order to maintain City compliance with State Water Quality standards as well as providing the necessary additional growth capacity needs of the community.

Ground breaking on this $16 million new facility occurred in March 2009 and construction was completed in June. Project funding consisted of two State Wide Grants totaling $3.5 million; a $10 million low interest Loan from the Washington State Public Works Trust Fund Assistance Account and the City of Gig Harbor utility rate payers.

The improvements consisted of the overall replacement of aging facilities, increased wastewater treatment capacity along with the improvement to effluent water quality. The scope of work included site work, selective demolition, pumping and piping modifications, construction of new centrifuge building and centrifuge, new clarifiers and associated piping, three new concrete anoxic basins and associated electrical upgrades, one new aeration basin, a new headworks building and associated new equipment and finally, improvements to the instrumentation, controls, telemetry and power systems.

UNIQUE IMPROVEMENT FACTS

The plant improvements were completed under budget and within schedule. In fact, costs savings were so significant that the City of Gig Harbor was able to add a fourth Clarifier and a wide variety of other additional features, yet maintain budget and schedule constraints. At no time was service to the residents of Gig Harbor interrupted, and the plant remained within permit standards.