New sewer facility to open this spring

Construction on the Bigfork Water and Sewer District’s new wastewater treatment plant is nearing the one-year mark, and according to water operations manager Andy Loudermilk, the facility should be up and running by mid to late February.

Crews broke ground on the $9.6 million facility — which was funded by an $8.1 million bond and $1.5 million in grants — last November at the district’s property on Harbor Heights Boulevard.

“We started in the winter because of the lake level,” Loudermilk said. “We had to dig deeper than the lake level to get the deepest portion (of the facility) in before the lake came up.”

Wintertime construction presented workers with various challenges, as did the site’s tight quarters. Despite suffering a few setbacks, the project has, for the most part, stayed right on schedule.

“It’s coming together,” Loudermilk said. “It’s been a really long process.”

The original wastewater treatment plant, which was built in 1986, had a life expectancy of about 20 years.

According to Loudermilk, structural deterioration, coupled with rapid community growth, put Bigfork in desperate need of a new treatment facility.

“We were pushing the envelope on having to replace everything in it,” Loudermilk said. “It’s just not big enough to handle the growth in Bigfork.”

The existing facility is capable of handling a peak flow of just under 500,000 gallons per day. During the summer months, the system often approaches maximum capacity, especially during events such as the Fourth of July parade, which draws thousands of people to Bigfork.

“On the Fourth of July, there are so many people in town, that it really overwhelms our system — way beyond any other typical day of the year,” Loudermilk said.

The new system will be able to handle more than twice as much flow as the current one — approximately 1.2 million gallons per day.

“The thing about being a seasonal community is that we have such drastic highs and lows,” Loudermilk said. “During the winter, our current capacity is more than enough. We’re building for the summer months.”

The new 6,300-square-foot treatment facility will feature the first membrane filtration system in the state.

“The new technology portion is the membranes, which are really fine filters that pull pure water out (of the waste),” Loudermilk said. “Then that water can be reused onsite. We use a lot of water in this process, and this will help cut down our usage of drinking water.”

The membrane system also uses less energy to pump water from chamber to chamber.

“This system will be much more efficient,” Loudermilk said.

Loudermilk said the builder didn’t cut any corners when constructing the new building.

“It’s all cinder blocks and concrete, so we won’t get the rusting we got in some parts of the older building,” he said.

Additionally, the outside walls feature a texturized design of grass and trees, giving the architecture a somewhat artistic quality.

“They really did it right,” Loudermilk said. “People were worried about it being an eyesore down here next to all of these homes and condos, but it’s really a nice-looking building.”