BOISE, Idaho — An important part of our water quality in the Boise River is being celebrated. The construction project on an over 70-year-old used-water facility is closer to completion.
Three years and about $46 million later, phase one of a 10 plus year project is complete.
"So, phase one really was looking at fixing the bookends of the plant,” said Josh Baker, the Program Manager for the city of Boise. “So, the beginning and the end."
The new headworks building on Lander Street neat W. State Street, is where the start of the water treatment process begins.
"This is where we remove large solids from the waste stream coming in,” Baker said. “So, this is really the first line of defense for the river where we get rid of some of the trash and other things that wind up inside of our water renewal facility.”
The original building was built in the 1940s, but Baker said it started to show its age.
"That equipment has deteriorated to the point that we really needed to do something about it," Baker said.”
The new building has much needed improvements to better clean the water that comes from the drains in peoples homes and ends up in the Boise River.
"We went from fairly large opening in our old bar racks that remove big things but let a lot of the smaller stuff go through,” Baker said. “To this facility which removes everything bigger than six millimeters in circle so it's actually removing a ton of trash that we weren't getting before."
Not only does this better clean the water, the smell around the plant will improve too.
"Odor coming off of all of our different processes in this facility, we're putting it through a carbon scrubber and actually admitting that up into the atmosphere, which helps us to not have any odor complaints," Baker said.
Phase one also added a new UV building which is where wastewater gets disinfected before it enters back into the river.
Baker said the improvements are to make the city cleaner for everyone.
"The more reliable we can be, the better it is for all the citizens of Boise to make sure we're keeping the river clean," Baker said.
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