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Pueblo to pursue $1.5 million Basin 3 sewer rehabilitation to reduce selenium infiltration and avoid costly treatment
Summary
Wastewater director Andrea Ahrens and Brown & Caldwell engineer Chandler Wilson outlined a Basin 3 sewer rehabilitation project covering about 1,900 feet of sewer and up to 46 laterals, estimated at roughly $1.5 million, to reduce groundwater infiltration of selenium and sulfate; funding would come from the wastewater enterprise fund and no grants were identified.
Andrea Ahrens, director of wastewater, and Chandler Wilson of Brown & Caldwell presented a sewer system rehabilitation project for Basin 3 at the Pueblo City Council work session on Jan. 26, describing goals, scope, estimated cost and next steps.
Ahrens said the city has seen naturally occurring selenium and sulfate enter the sewer collection system through groundwater infiltration; those minerals can raise treatment costs and harm aquatic life. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment granted Pueblo a discharger-specific variance in 2018 to allow time to explore solutions; that variance expires in 2028, presenters said.
Brown & Caldwell described Project 1 as a conceptual rehabilitation of roughly 1,900 feet of 8-inch sewer in the Skyview neighborhood, including about six manholes and up to 46 service laterals that serve residential properties. Chandler Wilson estimated a conceptual construction cost of about $1.5 million and said the initial work would include rights-of-entry, video inspection of services up to houses, design, bidding, and — if needed — excavation to repair or replace laterals and mains, followed by restoration of public and private property.
The presenters said the city has worked on infiltration reduction for about 25 years using lower-cost interventions (lining mains, removing homeowner sump pumps) and that this project grew from a 2024 pilot. Ahrens emphasized that early collection-system fixes are preferred to expensive treatment upgrades; the presentation included an estimate that tertiary treatment at the plant could cost in the range of $150 million to $350 million if collection-system measures are insufficient.
When asked whether grants would help fund the work, Ahrens said, "No. There are no grants available," and confirmed that the project would be funded through the wastewater enterprise fund. In response to a question about a homeowner refusing a right-of-entry, Ahrens said the city could require that homeowner to make the lateral repair themselves as an alternative.
Next steps for the project are notification of affected property owners (about 46), securing rights-of-entry, conducting sewer-service video inspections, developing design documents, bidding the work, returning to council with a resolution and construction contract, and constructing and restoring impacted properties.
Councilors had no substantive objections at the work session; staff will return with project documents and, if appropriate, a resolution and contract for council approval.
