Treatment Plants

KUB has four treatment plants that play a significant role in protecting our water supply and our environment. When the wastewater flow reaches the treatment plants, it passes through many processes:

• Physical Treatment: Removal of paper, rags, and sticks.
• Primary Treatment: Settle out solids.
• Secondary Treatment/Nitrification: Microscopic organisms or "bugs" help break down the solids in the water.
• Disinfection: Chlorine is added to the water to kill disease-causing germs before the water is returned to the receiving streams.
• Biosolids Handling: Solids processed out of wastewater are broken down in digesters. The digestion process stabilizes the solids and reduces pathogens. A high-speed centrifuge spins excess water from the solids. The biosolids are then hauled by trucks to approved farm sites.

Treated wastewater that is returned to the river is actually cleaner than the river itself.