The City of Puyallup will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, October 14th to celebrate the completion of the Water Pollution Control Plant’s (WPCP) Biosolids Dewatering project.
This approximately $6 million project involved the construction of a biosolids dewatering building, the acquisition and installation of a dewatering screw press, and the construction of a separate premise isolation backflow building.
Puyallup’s Water Pollution Control Plant receives sewage from throughout the city and effectively treats it to protect human health and our natural environment. Prior to installing the new screw press, the city dewatered sludge using a 35-year-old belt press which had exceeded its 20-year service life by fifteen years. The building which housed the belt press was constructed in the mid-1950s and had deteriorated considerably over time from exposure to the corrosive gas produced by the dewatering process.
One result of the project is that the dewatering process is now protected from floodwaters, ensuring the plant’s continued operation during this type of emergency event. The project also dramatically changed the way in which the dewatered biosolids are loaded for hauling. As WPCP Manager Kirk Elliott explains, “The real improvement to the plant is the addition of a load-out silo that can hold over 250,000 pounds of biosolids. We can now accurately load a truck with 63,000 pounds of target weight in less than 30 minutes.”
In addition to making the dewatering process much more efficient, timewise, the project will also save the city money in hauling costs because the screw press is able to remove more water than the belt press could, resulting in a dryer product and fewer loads. Finally, the project has also improved safety at the plant due to changes in how the trucks are loaded and also by eliminating the need to manually mix the polymer solution used in the dewatering process.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, October 14th at the Water Pollution Control Plant, 1602 – 18th St. NW, Puyallup. RSVPs may be made to Brenda Arline at 253-770-3370.