Energy Efficient Upgrades Coming to Wenatchee Wastewater Treatment Plant

The City of Wenatchee will pay near Jacob's Engineering out of Seattle up to $250,000 to design some energy-efficient upgrades to the city's wastewater treatment plant.

Senior Utility Engineer Jeremy Hoover said the project will replace three aging blower motors and some electrical controls from the 1990's with units that can slow down to save energy. By updating to more energy-efficient motors, the city could qualify for partial reimbursement from the Chelan County PUD.

"So basically the more megawatts that they can sell to other places and save here, the more money they make." explained Hoover, "So it's beneficial to them to cut power usage so they can sell that power someplace else."

It's expected the design phase will take almost another year, with construction expected to begin in the spring of 2023.

The entire project's approved budget, which includes construction, is $793,000.