How Does Niwot Work - Part 20

Water goes down the drain. In Niwot’s early days, homes had a septic system with a leach field to collect wastewater. While these systems worked well, they could lead to contamination of groundwater and drinking water.

Boulder County began requiring permits for septic systems and gradually imposed stricter regulations on wastewater systems, such as increased lot size requirements. As Niwot developed from a small unincorporated townsite surrounded by farmland and farm houses, into a community with subdivisions to serve the growing population, the need for a modern wastewater system became apparent.

One of those early farmers, who later became a residential real estate developer, was Howard Morton. Morton, who had farmed in the Niwot area, saw the need for housing for the many employees of the nearby IBM plant. He platted one of the first true subdivisions in Niwot, known as Morton Heights, just south of Niwot Road across from what is now Niwot High School.

The creation of a modern wastewater system required a quasi-governmental agency, known as a special district, to be able to borrow funds, levy taxes, impose tap fees, and build a sewer system throughout Niwot. Morton and others in the Niwot area worked to get the formation of a district on the ballot, and sought approval from those who would be served by the system.

The Niwot Sanitation District was formed in 1967 to serve the homes and businesses in the Niwot community. The district is governed by an elected board of directors, who hold monthly meetings at the Howard L. Morton Water Reclamation Facility west of 95th Street, just north of Rocky Mountain Christian Church.

The underground wastewater system, which includes several lift stations to raise the water discharged from the system to get it to the treatment plant just north of Niwot High School ballfields, was created, then expanded from time to time to serve a much broader area than the contiguous Niwot subdivisions.

According to the district website, “The treatment plant was originally a lagoon system using two aerated lagoons. Since that time, the District has undergone two upgrades in order to meet more stringent state effluent standards. The current permitted capacity of the treatment plant is .98 million gallons per day. The average number of gallons treated per day is 700,000.”

The district primarily serves residential customers, and all commercial businesses in the system are considered “clean industries.” The district website notes that businesses “discharge the equivalent of domestic waste into the collection system which flows to the treatment plant.”

Tap fees are assessed to businesses based upon the amount of water usage. Restaurants will require several taps due to the high water usage, whereas office uses will generally require a minimum number of taps. Whenever a change to a higher use of a commercial property occurs, the tap fees will be re-evaluated approximately one year after the business begins operation based on the amount of water used. Additional tap fees can be assessed at that time.

The wastewater coming into the treatment plant is treated through extended aeration and uses the Parkson Corporation Biolac process, according to the district website. “Due to this longer retention time there is more biomass working in the treatment process which in the end produces a higher effluent quality. The Biolac process is also equipped with a Wave Oxidation process.”

The treated wastewater is disinfected through the use of chlorination to kill pathogens. The water leaving the chlorine contact chamber is then dechlorinated with sulphur dioxide and discharged into Dry Creek, with a portion of the reuse water used to irrigate around the treatment plant.

While the district imposed a property tax mill levy to fund the initial creation of the system, property taxes were eventually abandoned as a source of revenue for the district. Instead, the district relies upon tap fees, which are charged whenever a new user connects to the system, to cover the costs of building and maintaining the plant. A tap fee currently costs between $16,600 and $19,600, based upon whether the tap uses a lift station. User fees, which run approximately $65 every two months for a homeowner, are collected to cover the operating costs of the system.

The district’s current service area is south to Highway 52, north to Oxford Road, west to the Diagonal Highway and east to just past 95th Street. The district also serves the Gunbarrel Estates subdivision which is just north of Lookout Road between N. 71st and N. 79th Street, which originally had its own sanitation district.

The board of directors meets the second Friday of each month at 8 a.m. at the district offices at 7395 N. 95th Street, Niwot, Colorado. Current directors are Jim Jones, Chris Carlston, Randy Lutz, Rob Driver, and Jennifer Uhland. The district’s general manager is Karen Behne.

More information can be found at http://www.niwotsanitation.com.