ACEC-Iowa recognizes Coggon, Fehr Graham for Wastewater Treatment Plant

The City of Coggon and Fehr Graham received an Engineering Excellence Award from the Iowa American Council of Engineers Companies for work on the Coggon Wastewater Treatment Plant. On Tuesday, Coggon Mayor Ray Archibald and Nate Kass, one of Fehr Graham’s seven owners, accepted the award at ACEC’s 63rd Annual Iowa Engineering Conference and Awards Banquet at the Hilton Garden Inn.

Coggon officials learned its wastewater treatment system was not meeting discharge limits. Contamination levels were above Iowa Department of Natural Resources requirements. The City was given an administrative consent order to make the treatment plant compliant with the City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit or face a $5,000-per-day fine. 

Fehr Graham created a system that removed contamination being released into the water and surrounding ecosystems. This resulted in cleaner, safer water, which has a lower impact on the environment. 

The treatment plant will now help the City keep user fees at a reasonable rate without compromising the quality of the wastewater treatment. The project was completed 12 percent under the preliminary budget estimate.

Read more about this project.