History
In a concerted effort to clean up our rivers and lakes by the mid-1980’s, communities in Wisconsin and throughout the nation started working to meet stringent state and federal water quality standards. The Sheboygan Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility plays an important part in this battle for cleaner water. The high quality of the effluent discharged into Lake Michigan is evidence of the positive action that has been taken to restore and maintain the lake’s chemical, physical, and biological integrity. Residents of Sheboygan and the surrounding communities can be proud of their wastewater treatment facility.
History of the Sheboygan Regional Wastewater Treatment
Facilities
The City of Sheboygan first constructed a wastewater treatment plant on the present site in 1937. This original plant provided primary treatment, which essentially consisted of removal of large suspended solids. In 1957, the plant was upgraded to provide secondary treatment through the removal of additional suspended solids and soluble organic material.
By 1970, Sheboygan had outgrown the upgraded treatment facility, and the
city authorized an engineering study to assess the community’s wastewater
treatment needs. Before design and construction of a plant addition could begin,
however, Congress enacted the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of
1972, Public Law 92-500. In response to these new requirements, a feasibility
study was conducted which indicated that a single wastewater treatment plant
would be the most cost effective and environmentally sound method of treating
wastewater produced in the region. The regional plant would serve the
Cities of Sheboygan and Sheboygan Falls, the Village of Kohler, the Town of
Sheboygan, and portions of the Towns of Sheboygan Falls, Lima, and Wilson.
The sanitary sewer system analysis and the wastewater treatment facilities plan were completed in 1975 and 1976, respectively. The facilities plan called for expansion of the existing Sheboygan wastewater treatment facilities and the abandonment of the treatment facilities in Kohler and Sheboygan Falls. Many components of the previous Sheboygan treatment plant were incorporated into the new facility, which resulted in lower construction costs. This plan also included construction within the City of Sheboygan of the west interceptor sewer to convey wastewater from Sheboygan Falls and Kohler. Other projects included a sanitary sewer rehabilitation and combined sewer (storm and sanitary) elimination program, and the upgrading of Sheboygan’s two major wastewater-pumping stations located at North Avenue and N. 3rd Street and at Kentucky Avenue and S. 7th Street.
In 1977, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) gave final approval of the plans and specifications for the regional wastewater treatment facilities. The City of Sheboygan received federal funding for 75 percent of the project cost, with the WDNR providing approximately five percent of the project cost. The remaining cost of the project was funded locally.
In January 1978, construction of the $23.9 million regional
treatment facilities commenced. The liquids handling portion became operational
in December 1979 and the solids handling portion in the fall of 1981.
Construction of the $1.04 million west interceptor, $810,000 sanitary sewer
rehabilitation, and $1.55 million upgrading of the North Avenue and Kentucky
Avenue pump stations was concurrent with construction of the treatment
facilities.
In 1998, work was completed on the North/South Interceptor sanitary sewer project. The North/South Interceptor was a major project identified in the 1970’s during the sanitary sewer system analysis. The North/South Interceptor would be built when development in the northwest quadrant of the regional planning area (The Town of Sheboygan and the Town of Sheboygan Falls) reached adequate size to necessitate construction of the larger sanitary sewer pipe and wastewater pump station. The process of acquiring easements for the project began in 1994 and continued into 1996. The $3.1 million project was funded through a State Revolving Fund (Clean Water Fund) loan with a subsidized interest rate under 3.2%.
