CITY OF RITZVILLE
Wastewater Treatment Lagoon Rehabilitation

Varela client since 2005

The city’s challenges
For Ritzville, it seemed like an insurmountable problem: the city’s newly constructed sewage treatment lagoons began failing almost immediately following commissioning for service.

• massive gas bubbles (“hippos”) formed under the lagoon liners – at one point inflating large enough to be  visible from the I-90 freeway a mile away
• the resulting legal settlement in the city’s favor wasn’t nearly enough to cover reconstruction
• sewer customers were faced with shouldering a completely unexpected, second-round of rate increases due to the failure of their brand-new, costly treatment facility – affordable funding for the rehabilitation was critical
• the city’s customers still needed this basic service regardless of a very discouraging situation

How we helped
Who to trust? Varela’s reputation led the city to select the firm to solve the difficult, messy situation.

• we worked one-on-one with city officials and staff to develop a surgically thought-out scope for systematically testing, designing, and solving the problem once and for all
• assisted the forensic team with evaluations and investigations for precisely identifying the causes and problems – and proposing the custom fixes needed
• assisted the city’s legal team in building its case
• guided city officials through the quagmire of findings, alternatives, and recommendations
• spent hours in multiple sessions with city officials, assisting them through the painful cost and rate-impact decision-making process
• nailed down $5.9 million in grant/loan funding to finance the project

What the city accomplished
Through a distressing five-year process, Varela work hand-in-hand with city officials, forensic scientists, and funding and regulatory agencies to accomplish the following:

• a fully rehabilitated 60-acre lagoon treatment facility with a restored full-service life expectancy
• an excellent funding package reduced the sewer rate impact considerably, resulting in restoration of reliable sewer service to Ritzville