Project Serving West Des Moines, Waukee Development Steams Ahead in Mild Winter

During a mild winter in which weather record after weather record has tumbled, bulldozers continue to rumble along Grand Avenue in a $3.7 million sewer infrastructure project aimed at helping West Des Moines and Waukee stay ahead of development pressure.

The project serving western suburban growth is a priority in the Des Moines Metropolitan Wastewater Reclamation Authority’s 20-year comprehensive plan to ensure that infrastructure improvements occur ahead of development projects in Polk and Dallas counties.

“We need to ensure we’re able to provide sanitary sewer treatment as needs grow,” said WRA Director Bill Stowe, also the Des Moines public works director. “We’re planning and building in front of those needs, so we’re not constrained by them.”

Construction is under way to install 67,000 feet of 54-inch reinforced concrete pipe to move wastewater from Waukee’s western boundaries to the WRA wastewater treatment plant, a 50-million gallon per day facility that can treat a peak flow of 200 million gallons per day located in southeast Des Moines.

Stowe said the current phase project is scheduled for completion Aug. 31, but it could be done well ahead of that deadline if warm weather holds. That doesn’t necessarily translate into reduced costs because contracts include a contingency for bad weather that isn’t reflected in the bid, and it’s part of a larger project that isn’t scheduled for completion until 2015.

“We could get it quicker,” Stowe said, “but not cheaper.”

The Des Moines Metropolitan WRA's 17 members include metro area municipalities (including West Des Moines and ), counties and sewer districts. The coalition was developed to protect public health and enhance the environment by recycling wastewater.