Wastewater project nearing completion
The new Tertiary Clarification building. This will settle out the chemically bound phosphorus from the water.
Courtesy of The City of Post Falls
A channel with new ultraviolet disinfection lights. These lights will disinfect the treated water as a final step before it's released to the Spokane River.
POST FALLS — Wastewater treatment facility enhancements for the city of Post Falls are close to completion, but construction delays have impacted the process.
Public Works Director John Beacham said nearly 90% of the $40 million project is paid for.
In 2013, the city developed a master plan to bring its facility into compliance with regulations from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
Post Falls treats wastewater before releasing it back into the Spokane River. That is why the city must comply with the state agency.
A big part of that compliance was implementing improvements to the wastewater facility.
Tertiary treatment is one of the main enhancements. Beacham said tertiary treatment adds chemicals that bond with phosphorus, creating a sludge. It then goes through a settling basin and is filtered through a membrane.
Other improvements include the implementation of a sixth oxidation ditch, an 850,000-gallon storage unit and is disinfected as a final step before it is released into the Spokane River.
During the Feb. 20 City Council meeting, Beacham said the project has experienced delays due to construction issues.
He said the city has shown flexibility with the construction project because supply chains were impacted by COVID and the Ukrainian war. Those issues made it more difficult for the contractor to obtain some materials.
"We want to be a good business partner to the contractor," Beacham said.
Beacham said a recent change order, presented in November 2023, added 488 days to the contract, and the contractor has not met proposed deadlines.
He said the city has been holding payments until they get consistent status updates from the contractor.
The tertiary treatment addition design began in 2018. Construction started two years later.
The current timeline shows a goal of construction being finished in March, but that date may be pushed forward.
Beacham said the long-term goals are to satisfy the compliance schedule from the state agency, anticipate capacity needs and maximize the city's long-term return on the investment.
Post Falls Mayor Ron Jacobson said delays have impacted this project from the start.
"This has been the most drawn-out project I have seen," Jacobson said. "And the upstream cities of Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls are being held to stricter regulations than Spokane and Spokane Valley, who are downstream."
Beacham said, moving forward, the city will continue working with the contractor to ensure the most efficient path to completion.
A channel with new ultraviolet disinfection lights. These lights will disinfect the treated water as a final step before it's released to the Spokane River.