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City administrator: Sedro‑Woolley to replace failing belt press at wastewater plant with expandable fan press — estimate $800,000–$1 million
Summary
City Administrator Bill Bullock told council the wastewater treatment plant's belt press is failing, creating a permit risk. Staff plans an RFP for a modern fan press sized to be expandable; estimated cost $800,000–$1 million charged to reserves earmarked for plant upgrades.
Sedro‑Woolley — City Administrator Bill Bullock told the council on June 11 that the city’s wastewater treatment plant is at risk after the facility’s belt press began failing earlier this year, and staff will issue an RFP to replace it with a more modern fan press.
Bullock said the belt‑press failure created a risk of increasing total suspended solids and edging toward permit noncompliance. He described the fan press as a different, more robust dewatering technology that is expandable for future plant capacity increases.
"It will be probably between $800,000 and a million dollars to replace the belt press with this new technology," Bullock said, adding that the fan press could be sized now for future plant upgrades and would reduce maintenance risk.
Bullock said the city has about $4 million in reserves earmarked as part of the funding strategy for the treatment plant upgrade and that staff expects installation in November–December after lead times for equipment.
He said the RFP will be returned to council in approximately two to four weeks with a staff presentation that explains the belt‑press failure and the reasons staff chose a fan press solution.
No formal council action was taken at the meeting; Bullock framed the discussion as an informational update and a heads‑up that a capital purchase and contract award will come back as a formal action once design and procurement steps are complete.
