The City of Pipestone needed to address the high levels of chlorides, salty water parameters, and dissolved solids found in the treated wastewater to meet new discharge permit levels. The most economical choice was centralized lime/soda ash municipal water softening to reduce salt from ion exchange softeners in the community. Pipestone’s water treatment facility was vintage. Its building and adjacent water tower are on the state historical register, making updating difficult and cost prohibitive.
Bolton & Menk worked with the city to develop a comprehensive plan and upgrade the water supply and treatment system. We worked with the city to develop plans for construction and helped access funding through the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (PFA) and a Point Source Implementation Grant (PSIG).
With a construction timeline of 24 months, the new water treatment facility was completed in summer 2019 on time and within budget. The new facility provides a long-term investment in the community reducing the need for ion exchange softening. Bolton & Menk worked with the community to get softeners adjusted and educate residents and businesses on proper optimization of their ion exchange softeners, ultimately meeting the city’s NPDES discharge permit for salty water parameters.
Awards
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Salt Symposium – 2021 Chloride Reduction Leadership Award
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United States Environemntal Protection Agency – 2020 DWSRF AQUARIUS Award for Excellence in Problem Solving
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American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota – 2019 Grand Award
How UAVs Document Project Progress
UAV videos can be used in all stages of project documentation, from construction to the finished product. See some examples here!
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Reducing Chlorides in Wastewater through Water Treatment
Watch below to learn how we helped the City of Pipestone reduce chlorides in their wastewater–featuring our very own, John Graupman and Walter the Raindrop!
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Fixing the Problem at the Source in Pipestone
By looking at the problem at a different angle and not focusing on the obvious solution, the City of Pipestone was able to solve two water problems with one solution.
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