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Riverbank hears $136.1 million plan to upgrade wastewater plant; council presses for lower-cost options
Summary
Consultants presented a detailed design and financing update for a planned recycled-water treatment plant, warning of a large funding gap and proposing value-engineering and phasing options. Council members asked staff for alternative, lower-cost options before committing to a 90% design.
At a Riverbank City Council meeting, consultants updated the council on the regional recycled-water project and the city's wastewater treatment plant upgrade, presenting a 60% design and a construction cost estimate that has risen to $136.1 million and outlining options to reduce that price tag.
The presentation by Neil Colwell, project manager for KSN, traced the project from an initial 2015 concept through planning and 15% design to a 60% design now under review. Colwell described the recommended treatment approach—oxidation ditches with robust nitrogen removal and tertiary filtration—chosen to allow continued use of the city's percolation ponds and to meet anticipated regulatory requirements. "We looked at treatment processes that had a robust ability to remove nitrogen," Colwell said, adding the oxidation ditch was selected for reliability and local operator familiarity.
The consultants said maintaining the percolation ponds reduces required seasonal storage and avoids tens of millions of dollars in added cost. Colwell said reuse infrastructure, filtration and pumping, storage, and secondary…
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