Provo opens new water reclamation facility after 2020 construction

A city staff member announced that Provo’s new water reclamation facility, which broke ground in September 2020, is now operational and replaces infrastructure dating to 1956 that was last significantly updated in 1978.

The staff member said the plant uses membrane bioreactor technology and touted the project’s cost performance and schedule, saying, “This isn't just an upgrade. Oh, no. We've gone from the horse and buggy era straight to the space age.” The speaker also said, “We have saved millions of dollars by being proactive instead of reactive, and we came in, my favorite statement, on time and on budget.”

The project team described the new system as a move to “cutting edge membrane bioreactor technology used by the most advanced treatment plants worldwide.” According to the speaker, strategic community partnerships helped defray costs and careful early planning reduced exposure to inflation; the transcript did not specify the partners by name or provide a total project cost or a detailed funding breakdown.

Meeting remarks emphasized service life and local benefits: the staff member said the facility “will serve not just us here today, but our children and our grandchildren,” framing the plant as a long-term infrastructure investment. The transcript did not include technical details such as plant capacity, expected effluent standards, or an operational timeline beyond the statement that the facility is now operational.

No formal motions or votes regarding the facility were recorded in the provided transcript excerpts. The statements occurred as part of a presentation; the record does not specify any follow-up actions, monitoring schedules, or reporting requirements tied to the announcement.