Results

The clients for this project include the City of Brodhead, three landowners, including a local dairy farm, and in a sense, the Sugar River watershed, which all had differing needs, benchmarks and levels of satisfaction.

Results for the City exceeded expectations, with a capital investment of just $932,256 as opposed to the $4.2 million anticipated as part of a wastewater treatment facility overhaul.

Annual operational costs are expected to be approximately $42,000 going forward. In total, by implementing the WQT program, the City of Brodhead is projected to save $3.8 million in lifecycle costs.

Furthermore, the WQT solution is immensely more effective, removing more than five times the amount of phosphorus than from treatment plant upgrades — offsetting 1,090 pounds/yr of phosphorus as compared to 190 pounds/yr.

These results greatly exceed the City’s long-term goals for phosphorus compliance and create a “bank” of extra credits to combat unknown challenges, such as future flooding or breakdowns at the City’s treatment facility, which if unaccounted for, could lead to future noncompliance with WQBELs.

This offers a comfortable degree of resiliency for the City, knowing their facility can withstand a changing climate, and that they also have room to grow.

KEY RESULTS

390 Additional WQT Credits per Year