
The City of Mazeppa recently celebrated a significant milestone with the groundbreaking of a new wastewater treatment facility, moving one step forward in ensuring a sustainable future for its residents. With over $12 million in funding from USDA Rural Development, Mazeppa will replace its outdated and costly plant, which has served the community since the 1950s.
City officials have long called for a wastewater treatment upgrade—the upgrade was deemed necessary due to the current wastewater treatment plant's age and urgent health and sanitation concerns related to deteriorating technology. As Mazeppa's population continues to grow, the city has had to increase wastewater and sewer rates by 30%, underlining the pressing nature of the situation. Unfortunately, maintaining the aging wastewater treatment plant has become a recurring drain on the city's finances—it needed an estimated $5 to $8 million to maintain the existing facility, an effort described by city officials as using "chicken wire and duct tape" to hold it together.
"With a new plant, we won't be watching for alarm bells going off in the middle of the night on a Saturday or something similar," City Engineer with Bolton & Menk Matt Mohs explained, acknowledging the old plant's failures and the city's struggle with emergency repairs and out-of-pocket maintenance costs.
Principal Engineer with Bolton & Menk Jake Pichelmann further emphasized the need to replace the plant, noting that the corrosive nature of wastewater environments accelerated deterioration.
"A 70-year-old plant doesn't last forever," Pichelmann said, emphasizing how communities typically undergo wastewater treatment improvements every 20 to 30 years.
The new wastewater treatment facility promises to resolve these issues and enhance the reliability and efficiency of wastewater processing. By employing modern technology, the new plant will utilize an adaptable biological process to meet future permit limits for pollutants, including phosphorus and nitrogen.
A less severe but notable issue with the current plant relates to its location in the center of a popular city park, which residents view as an eyesore. The city is addressing this by constructing the new facility at a discreet location against a hillside, offering improved aesthetics and usability of the park. Officials are anticipating the new plant opening by September 26.
"Getting the financing to work and make this project affordable for the community was huge. Working with Rural Development was a huge deal for this to work. If we didn't have the funding, it wouldn't be possible," Pichelmann said.