WSB Project Honored with MPCA Governor’s Award for Excellence

WSB Project Honored with
MPCA Governor’s Award for Excellence

On July 28, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency honored this year’s recipients of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Pollution Prevention. The City of St. Anthony received the award for the Storm Water Runoff and Filter Backwash Reuse Project engineered by WSB.

The City of Saint Anthony collects filter-backwash water, a waste byproduct from the City’s wastewater treatment and storm water runoff, and uses the water to irrigate a 20-acre site that includes a municipal park and the City Hall. Prior to this project, the city used five million gallons from the treated municipal water supply each year to irrigate the area. The volume of water discharged from the

site has been cut by more than 90 percent during the growing season. Phosphorus is reduced because it is captured by plants instead of running off as pollution. This project will be a demonstration site for future water-reuse projects.

The Governor’s Awards recognize Minnesota businesses, non-profits, private institutions, and governmental institutions that demonstrate a superior commitment to waste and pollution prevention, source reduction, and resource conservation. Award-winning projects went beyond traditional practices, focusing instead on preventing, reducing, and reusing through innovating and creative strategies. For a full listing of the award winners, visit the MPCA website.

The filter-backwash project has also received the 2010 ACEC/MN Engineering Excellence Grand Award; 2009 LMC City of Excellence Award: Population 5,000 - 19,999; 2009 MPWA Project of the Year – Honorable Mention; and 2008 CEAM Municipal Project of the Year - Honorable Mention.

To learn more about the award-winning project, click on the video
created by the MPCA.

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