The Village of Dickeyville owns and operates a wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) to serve residential, commercial, public, and industrial users of the wastewater collection system. The facility had its last large upgrade in 1982. In years that followed, a number of minor upgrades were completed. Most recently, upgrades were needed to address deteriorating facility infrastructure and insufficient sludge storage capacity, but also to meet new WPDES permit limits for phosphorus.

The Village hired MSA in 2020 to first complete a Facility Plan. The plan identified several updates necessary for the continued efficient operation of the WWTF in addition to those needed to meet compliance for phosphorus limits and for future wastewater flow and load projections. The deficiencies that were recommended to be addressed during design included chemical phosphorus removal, the Return Activated Sludge and Waste Activated Sludge (RAS/WAS) pumping system, sludge storage system, and composite sampling upgrades. In 2021, MSA was contracted to serve as design engineer for the facility improvements, as well as to provide construction services throughout the upgrade. In 2022, MSA also assisted the Village with renewal of their WPDES permit, applying for a Multi-Discharger Variance (MDV) for phosphorus and applying for a chloride variance.

MSA’s design for improvements included construction of a new 19’ by 35’ building to house a new chemical phosphorus removal system with a 1,450-gallon aluminum sulfate storage tank and chemical feed skid with peristaltic chemical metering pumps, as well as an influent composite sampler and an electrical equipment expansion. The design also involved demolition of the WWTF’s existing RAS screw pump and construction of a new RAS/WAS pumping station including a wet well with two submersible pumps and associated valve vault. The project also included the construction of a new sludge storage tank to increase sludge capacity, replacement of the existing sludge pump for more efficient sludge transfer and mixing capabilities, and replacement of the existing scum pump. The existing effluent sampler building was removed and replaced with a new fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) building to house an effluent composite sampler and orthophosphate analyzer that controls chemical dosing rates.

As the project is nearing completion in the fall of 2023, the Village of Dickeyville’s updated wastewater treatment facility is experiencing effluent phosphorus levels around 0.4 mg/L since the start of chemical dosing in July 2023, which is well below the Village’s current permit limit of 1.0 mg/L.