Wastewater Treatment

T

he Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facility treats Residential and Industrial waste.  This facility is located just northwest of the City of Le Mars, Iowa with a population of 9286 residents.


We also have an Industrial Wastewater Facility located two-miles West of Le Mars.  This facility only treats industrial waste from ice cream and milk industries.


Purpose

The primary function of the facilities is to clean water from our residents and industries. We have more than 71 miles of sanitary sewer lines.


History

The Le Mars Wastewater Treatment Facility was built in 1958 with a Bar-screen, Primary Clarifier, Trickling Filter and Final Clarifier. In 1967, 1978, 1986, 1997, 2003 and 2005 the facility had major renovations with smaller improvements in between.


Recent Improvements

Due to increased demand for  capacity from our local industries, we also added an Industrial Facility and an additional bio-solids lagoon.  We have also added force main with pumping stations to move the water between facilities, which was completed in 2014.  This has reduced the loading on our main facility and added room for future growth.


Statistical Information

The City of Le Mars has:

  •   2 Wastewater Processing Facilities

  •   15 Lift Stations

  •   Over 71 miles of Sanitary Sewer Lines

Design Flow

  •   3.14 Million Gallons per day (MGD) Average Dry Weather (ADW)
  •   3.59 MGD Average Wet Weather (AWW)
  •   4.73 MGD Maximum Wet Weather (MWW)

Flow

  •  

    2,032 MGD Average Gallons per day

Bio Solids

  •   8.9 million gallons produced
  •   9.6 million gallons land applied

BOD (Bio-Chemical Oxygen Demand)

  • Removal Efficiency is 99.4%

TSS (Total Suspended Solids)

  • Removal Efficiency is 97.6%