Water reclamation plant proposed for East Bethel
The Metropolitan Council has developed plans for a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant in East Bethel, a growing community in northern Anoka County.
The high-quality effluent from the plant would be used for a combination of golf course and agricultural land irrigation, industrial applications, and also returned to the environment through rapid infiltration basins, rather than into a river as is the traditional practice. The process is known as water reclamation.
MCES principal engineer and project manager Jim Roth, left, discusses the wastewater service plans with East Bethel residents during a public information meeting on Jan. 21.
“While new to the Twin Cities area, the practice of reusing treated wastewater is well-established worldwide,” said Bill Moore, general manager of Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES). “One of the primary benefits is that it can reduce the demand on existing surface and groundwater sources.”
East Bethel is designated a Rural Growth Center in the Council’s Regional Development Framework. Over the last few years, MCES has had numerous discussions about regional wastewater service with East Bethel officials and has presented preliminary plans to the community.
MCES recently finalized a Facility Plan for the project, and on Jan. 21 talked with residents at a well-attended public information meeting. On Feb. 1, MCES took formal comments on the plan at a public hearing. The Council is scheduled to act on the plan in February. If approved, it will go to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for consideration.
Council worked closely with city on plans
With a population of approximately 13,000, the city of East Bethel straddles Highway 65. Through its Comprehensive Plan and Sanitary Sewer Plan submitted to the Council in 2007, the city requested a change in its planning status from Rural Center to Rural Growth Center. The city supported its request with a commitment to increase development densities and cluster growth along Highway 65.
An open space such as this one, west of Highway 65 at 229th Ave. Northeast, is suitable for rapid infiltration of the reclaimed water.
The Council approved the city’s plans and Rural Growth Center designation, and agreed to provide regional wastewater treatment to serve growth in the community, as well as address the impact of failing septic systems around Coon Lake in the southeast corner of the city.
The state-of-the-art water reclamation plant is proposed to be located just west of Highway 65 and 185th Ave. Northeast, in the southwest corner of the city. MCES has acquired two rapid infiltration sites near Highway 65 – at 207th Ave. Northeast and 229th Ave. Northeast. MCES would pump the high-quality reclaimed water through underground pipes from the plant to these sites, where the water would percolate down through 10 to 15 feet of soil and blend with the groundwater. Discussions with city officials and property owners regarding irrigation and industrial reuses of the reclaimed water are under way.
Pipe construction will be coordinated
The city is working on plans for financing and constructing a local wastewater collection system that will connect to MCES’s regional facilities. The city and MCES will look for opportunities where they can coordinate the construction of local sewers and regional reclaimed water pipes.