by Rich Rosene
Sanitation District
District Manager
Have you noticed the purple signs around the Town Square? The signs are part of a nationwide system of marking reuse water facilities with purple. The distribution pipes installed underground are colored purple and the purple hydrants through town are connected to the reuse distribution system.
The Kremmling Sanitation District and the Town of Kremmling are now irrigating the Town Square with reuse water. The Town Cemetery was placed on the reuse system for irrigation last summer. The use of reuse water will take some of the pressure off of the town’s water treatment plant during the critical irrigation season. The cemetery uses about 43,000 gallons per day and the town square uses about 11,000 gallons per day for irrigation. The district installed a sprinkler system this year at the treatment plant that will use about 30,000 gallons per day. The district and town hope to expand the reuse irrigation system to Ceriani Park in 2020 and the Red Mountain Sports Complex shortly after to further reduce the amount of water the water treatment plant has to produce during the summer irrigation season.
The sanitation district’s reuse system is completely independent of the town’s drinking water system. The sprinkler systems at the town square and the cemetery have physical disconnects that only allow one system to provide the water to irrigate, either town water or reuse water, with no chance of a cross connection. The sprinkler systems at the Town Square and the Cemetery will run during the early morning hours for the most effective watering of the grass.
Reuse water is wastewater that has been treated to meet specific safety standards for irrigation use. The reuse water is disinfected with chlorine and filtered before it is delivered into the reuse distribution pipelines. The district is required to test the reuse water weekly for any pathogens and for turbidity. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has strict reuse water quality standards and the district had to upgrade the wastewater treatment process prior to providing the reuse water.
The District is currently operating over 500 Bio-Domes in two of its treatment lagoons and has floating disk covers on all four treatment lagoons. The Bio-Domes treat the wastewater very effectively and allow the district to store the treated water in its two large storage lagoons as reuse water for irrigation purposes. The floating disks help to retain heat in the water to improve treatment in very cold water temperatures each winter and to prevent the growth of algae in the summer. The disk covers are much more effective and less susceptible to damage than the old fabric covers. The combination of the domes and the covers allows the wastewater to be treated to meet all of the District’s CDPHE standards.
Over the past several years the district has applied for and received several grants from the Energy and Mineral Impact Fund of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) and from the Small Communities Grant program within the CDPHE to cover the costs the Bio-Dome and floating disk covers projects.
The sanitation district has two full time employees, Jeremy Bock and Pat Etler, a summer seasonal worker, and a part time district manager, Rich Rosene. The staff is responsible for operating the treatment plant, collection system, and reuse system to meet CDPHE permit standards.
The sanitation district’s usage fees are included on the monthly bill from the town, but it is a separate entity with its own board of directors. If you want additional information on the district, its office is located in the town hall and can be contacted 724-3249.
