Ken Smith/Turnagain Times
Girdwood’s sewage plant was built in 1978. Now AWWU offi cials
say the community is in need of a new facility.
Girdwood’s sewage plant was built in 1978. Now AWWU offi cials
say the community is in need of a new facility.
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Ken Smith/Turnagain Times Girdwood’s sewage plant was built in 1978. Now AWWU offi cials say the community is in need of a new facility. |
By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
Constructed in 1978, the Girdwood Wastewater Treatment Facility is reaching capacity. So the time has come to expand it, Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility officials told the Girdwood Board of Supervisors at their monthly meeting Feb. 16. “The project has been in the planning stages for a couple of years,” said Chris Beck, an engineer and project consultant with Agnew Beck, “and now we’re ready to go forward. What we’d like to do is inform the community over the next couple of months and then get the Board’s approval.”
The facility was last upgraded in 1990 and 1994 and is now nearing the end of its useful service life. It is also reaching its permitted capacity of .6 million gallons per day. “The facility is designed to handle 600,000 gallons a day,” said Tom Winkler, AWWU Project Manager. “The average per day is 500,000 gallons, but we’re creeping up to 600,000.” Winkler said there are some days during wet weather like last month when sewage flow reached 1.5 million gallons per day. “We’re able to handle it by doing things differently at the treatment plant,” he said.
All the sewage that enters the facility is treated and then pumped out into Glacier Creek. But Winkler said the discharge is completely treated and safe for the environment and meets EPA standards. National Pollution Discharge Elimination regulations require planning for expansion once a treatment facility reaches 75 percent capacity. Expansion of the Girdwood facility will take place on 8 acres of land where the current treatment plant is located—on Ruane Road behind the Transfer Station. The project is expected to cost anywhere from $40 to $60 million. Officials hope to obtain funding from federal stimulus money and low interest loans. Once community input is received, AWWU offi cials will go back to the GBOS for approval.