Water Pollution Control Plant

Our Mission

The Water Pollution Control Division of Public Works is charged with keeping the City of Council Bluffs in compliance with local, state, and federal regulations pertaining to water quality issues. With a staff of 25 dedicated employees, this division operates and maintains the Wastewater Treatment Plant 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Plant History

The Water Pollution Control Plant is a public - owned facility located just south of Council Bluffs at 18452 Applewood Road. Constructed between 1972 and 1974 at a cost of $11,400,000, it replaced an outdated treatment facility formerly located on 23rd Avenue. In 1996, a $5 million upgrade project added additional treatment capacity and equipment to efficiently handle the organic solids portion of the waste stream. In 2000, a three-phased upgrade to the plant headworks was designed. Phase 1 was constructed in 2001. Between 2003 and 2004, Phases 2 and 3 further improved the plant’s headworks facility. Even with these improvements, the plant was operating at full capacity. 

In 2004, Public Works identified a need to further expand the plant’s secondary treatment capacity to meet the ever-growing needs of its commercial and residential users. The City hired a consulting firm to make recommendations. The firm recommended the plant expansion be constructed in two phases: Phase 1 would be built to meet the current and near-term future needs and Phase 2 would be built at a later time when residential/commercial or industrial growth required it. The cost for Phase 1 of this expansion was estimated to be $5.3 million. To fund this, a 14% sewer use fee increase was passed by the City Council in December 2004 and went into effect April 1, 2005. Phase 1 secondary treatment upgrade was completed and brought on line in May 2007. Total project cost was $4.9 million.