The Elk City Wastewater Treatment Plant is a 19 cell seasonal discharge facultative lagoon system with a total capacity of 500 million gallons.
It is the largest lagoon system in the state of Oklahoma. Average daily flow into the treatment plant is 1.3 million gallons per day.
The lagoons have the capacity to treat a population of 20,000 however that can be expanded rather easily as the population continues to grow.
The plant superintendent is James Dorgan and the lead operator is Allen Henderson.
James holds a C level water operations certification, a C level wastewater operations certification, and a C level wastewater laboratory certification issued by the State of Oklahoma.
Allen holds a D level water operations certification, a D level wastewater operations certification, and a C level wastewater laboratory certification also issued by the State of Oklahoma.
They both have many years of experience in the water and wastewater field.
Treated secondary lagoon water is utilized at the golf course to irrigate the fairways in order to keep them green and healthily. A few area farmers also take advantage of the benefits of reused water for their crops.
Elk City is currently investigating other ways to safely and legally reuse the treated secondary lagoon water. This is a good way to get rid of the excess water the plant receives and a good way to preserve our most precious commodity, drinking water.
During the winter months when evaporation is at its lowest and irrigation is not being utilized, the plant has the option to discharge the treated water into the creek. However, there are strict regulations regarding daily testing that must be done and the results of those tests must not be greater than a value determined by State and Federal regulations.
The plant grounds and the lagoons are well maintained at all times and inspections are performed by State officials on a routine basis. Elk City always scores high on the inspection reports. Copies of the reports are kept at the facility.
