BOISE, Idaho — Boise's water treatment facility is getting a new name and a big construction project to go with it. The construction project on the over 70-year-old building on Lander Street will cost $46 million for the first three years.
The city is renaming its used-water facility to Water Renewal Services.
Construction is about to get underway at the facility, which is located off State Street and Veterans Memorial Parkway.
Originally built back in the late-1940s, city officials say it’s time to replace the aging infrastructure. The project is going to cost $46 million. The funding is coming from the Water Renewal Fund, which comes from utility bills.
This is one of two facilities in Boise that takes in the water that goes down the drain in residents' homes. That water ends up at the facility and goes through a purifying process and then ends up in the Boise River.
Colin Hickman, a spokesperson for the Public Works Department, said the city needs to do this project to make sure they're protecting the river, but it's also to handle the growth the city is seeing.
"If you drain these tanks (that carry dirty water) down, there is a lot of aggregate showing through where the corrosion through the years has been putting a hammer on it,” Royce Davis, the manager of the water renewal facility, said.
Construction is going to be split into three phases, with the first phase set to be done by 2022.
"With this first phase, we'll be putting in a new UV building and new UV disinfection, which we are really excited about,” Davis explained.
The UV machines get rid of any remaining bacteria before the water makes its way into the river.
"It dismembers their DNA to where they can't reproduce, so then they die,” he said.
One of the reasons for the massive upgrades to the facility is that it is beginning to show its age.
“The facts are this is an old facility with aging infrastructure,” Hickman said. "We need state-of-the-art, cutting-edge technology to ensure the Boise River is kept clean."
On top of the aging infrastructure, growth is another reason for the update.
"It's no secret Boise is a growing city,” Hickman said. "We treat roughly 12 million gallons a day. We'll need up to 17 million gallons a day for capacity.”
Starting in 2020, residents in Boise could see around a five percent increase in their utility bills, which will help pay for the costs of the construction project.
"For us, it comes back down to protecting the Boise River and investing in this infrastructure so that we're not caught behind and we think that's important,” Hickman said.
Some work will take place right off Veterans Memorial Parkway, so the construction equipment can get down into the facility. Davis said they worked with the Ada County Highway District to make this happen because the neighbors were concerned with the heavy equipment coming down Lander Street, which is a narrow residential road.
The facility is right next to the Greenbelt, but won't impede any access to it.
The entire project is going to take 10 years to finish.
Hickman said they don't have a final estimate on how much it's all going to cost at this time. The $46 million is going to pay for the first three years of construction.