Working to Protect Public Health & the Environment

Grand Island's Wastewater Treatment plant helps keep our community healthy, clean, and comfortable. Dealing with wastewater may not be a pretty topic, but we provide a crucial service that benefits every person, every home, every business, and the environment of Grand Island. We protect community health by controlling where waste goes, and by treating and disinfecting waste. Without wastewater treatment, things could be a real mess.

Wastewater comes from waste - human waste, food prep waste, dirty wash-water, industrial waste, and even storm water that gets into our system. Over 240 miles of sewer collection pipelines run throughout Grand Island to collect the roughly 12 million gallons of sewage generated each day, which is treated at our plant.

So where does the wastewater go when you flush or brush? We take care of it!

At the Grand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), we work hard to fulfill our responsibility to deal with wastewater while at the same time: 

• Effectively managing our budget, 
• Using up-to-date technology and research, 
• Safeguarding health and the environment, 
• Being a good neighbor by trying to control odors, 
• Replacing the plant's aging infrastructure, and planning for our city's growth and future wastewater needs.

Wastewater Treatment Division Objective:
To collect, treat, and dispose of wastewater in an environmentally sound manner and in accordance with current local, state, and federal regulations.

WWTP Responsiblities

The WWTP is strictly regulated by the Nebraska Department of  Environment and Energy (NDEE) through a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, regulating water quality/effluent discharges from the plant to area waterways. Failure to comply with effluent limits may result in substantial fines. The WWTP compliance record is outstanding. Regulatory compliance is the primary responsibility of the WWTP.

This web site will explain the business of wastewater treatment, what we are doing to make improvements and upgrades to our system, what you can do to help maintain our city sewer lines, and where to call if you have concerns or questions.

Overview

Grand Island has one wastewater treatment plant that serves a community of over 50,000 people. It is operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with scheduled routine maintenance and/or special cleaning requiring periodic shutdowns of individual plant processes. Twenty eight (28) full-time staff operate and manage the plant, including trained professionals such as lab technicians, process control personnel, operators, maintenance crews, and administrative personnel. The WWTP has emergency crews that are on stand-by 24/7/365. 

• The plant maintains over 240 miles of sewer collection pipelines and 13 lift stations (which pump sewage to the treatment plant) 
• On average 12 million gallons of sewage a day is treated 
• 70 percent of the plant's sewage (by volume/per day) comes from a wide variety of sources, while 30 percent comes from larger agricultural/industrial entities. 
• Approximately 10 separate cleaning steps are taken before wastewater is discharged to area waterways. All environmental and health standards are met in achieving these steps. 
• Grand Island discharges treated wastewater under a permit issued by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy.

Funding of our wastewater services comes from user fees, not general funds.