Frequently Asked Questions

Water Reclamation Facility Project

• Has the City sought public involvement in this process?

  The City has sought public input on many occasions, including an open house in January of 2008, civic presentations in January of 2008, a neighborhood meeting in the County in April of 2008, and a second open house and public hearing in May 2008. In addition, the City has formed a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) made of 10-20 members of the community. The CAC has met four different times to discuss the alternatives. Santaquin residents attending these meetings and the CAC have stated a strong interest in investing in a long-term solution that provides reclaimed water, does not send water to Utah Lake, allows Santaquin to control their own wastewater decisions, and seeks to keep user rates at acceptable levels. Subsequent public hearings were held in May and December of 2009 and April of 2010. 

• How much does this project cost?

  The overall cost of this project is $16.31 million dollars. However, $6.3 million of that cost will be paid in the form of grants, $2.2 million in resources the city has on hand and the remainder in long-term low-interest bonds. 

• How will we be able to pay for this project if the city does not continue to grow?

  Due to a requirement of the USDA, the funding for this project plans for a ‘zero’ percent growth rate. As such, even if growth does not continue, the City of Santaquin will be able to meet this financial obligation. This approach, although extremely conservative in design, creates a financial burden on our existing users. To help offset this financial burden, the USDA increased their grant amount from $2 million to $5 million dollars.

• Is there any pending litigation?

  No. There is no pending or anticipated litigation with regard to the WRF project. 

• What are the long term benefits to reusing the water?

  The Santaquin City WRF will be the first in the State of Utah that will provide 100% reuse of its water. By reusing this precious water resource in our pressurized irrigation system, we are ensuring that our community will have the water it needs for decades to come. 

• What will the Water Reclamation Facility look like?

  The facility is being designed to look like a rural barn to fit into the surrounding orchards in the area. The entire operation will be fully enclosed and reside on a 10-acre parcel that has plenty of room for expansion. 

• When will the project begin and how long will it take?

  The project will break ground in January of 2011 and take approximately 18 months to construct.

• Where will the Water Reclamation Facility be located?

  The new system will be located on the north side of Santaquin City along the west side of Center Street in between the railroad tracks and the Strawberry-Highline Canal.

• Who approved this project?

  This project required approvals from various entities throughout the design and funding process. Approvals were granted by funding and design partners (e.g. UDSA, DWQ, DWR, CUP, EPA, etc.) Ultimately, every phase of this project was approved by our elected and appointed officials through the Santaquin City Council, Planning Commission, and Development Review Committee. 

• Why did my bill go up by $20?

  In order to qualify for the funding of this project with the assistance of Federal and State agencies, the average Santaquin City Sewer Rate was required to be $42 per month. This necessitated an increase of $20 per month per connection. 

• Why do we need to do this project?

  Our current sewer lagoons are beyond capacity. They were designed in 1994 to provide capacity through 2012 for a population of approximately 4,500. However, growth over the last 16 years has exceeded those 1994 projections. Today our population is over 8,500 and continues to grow. 

• Will it stink?

  The process is a very clean low odor operation. Santaquin City is taking every precaution to ensure that odors are imperceptible by fully enclosing the process in buildings that have a slight negative pressure. This means that air from the outside will be pulled indoors when doors are opened. In addition, air scrubbers will be installed in the HVAC system. Finally, there will be no storage of bio-solids onsite. All of these steps will ensure the lowest possible odor issue.

• Will new growth pay for any of this project?

  History has proven that growth will come. As such, the revenue that new growth will bring, in the form of impact fees and monthly user rates, will allow the City Council of the future the ability to either pay down the debt early or lower everyone’s monthly user rate.