DENVER, Nov. 18 — The Denver Regional Council of Governments board approved the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District’s Northern Treatment Plant (NTP) Wastewater Utility Plan and application for Site Location Approval at its meeting last night.The Metro District plans to submit the NTP Wastewater Utility Plan and application for Site Location Approval to the Colorado Water Quality Control Division by December 1.
The Wastewater Utility Plan is the engineering report that supports the District's application for Site Location Approval for the NTP.
The North Front Range Water Quality Planning Association approved the NTP Wastewater Utility Plan and application for Site Location Approval on September 23, 2010.
Approval of the NTP Wastewater Utility Plan and the application for Site Location Approval by both regional governments is the last step required before submitting the documents to the state for its approval.
The 24-million-gallon-a-day Northern Treatment Plant will serve communities in the northern metropolitan Denver region that need updated and expanded wastewater treatment, said Metro District Manager Catherine R. Gerali.
“Existing facilities will soon reach their capacity limits,” Gerali said, noting that the facility will be “one of the most advanced in the western United States .”
She added that advanced treatment is required because protecting the South Platte River in the years to come requires “treating to more stringent standards” than existing facilities currently can meet.
The new facility will include effective odor control and the architecture and landscaping will blend in with the surrounding community, she said.
The new facility will be located at the northwest corner of Highway 85 and 168th Avenue (Weld County Road 2). The estimated in-service date is 2015.
The Metro District is the largest wastewater treatment agency in the Rocky Mountain West. The current treatment facility at 64th and York treats about 150 million gallons of wastewater a day. The service area includes a population of nearly 1.7 million people and encompasses approximately 715 square miles, including Denver, Arvada, Aurora, Brighton, Lakewood, part of Westminster, Wheat Ridge, and Thornton, together with about 40 sanitation and water and sanitation districts in the metropolitan Denver area.
