City of Fort Benton, Montana

Wastewater Treatment Upgrades

The City of Fort Benton discharged it’s treated wastewater to the Missouri River and was unable to consistently meet it’s wastewater discharge permit requirements and was issued an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) from DEQ to make the needed improvements to come back into permit compliance. To meet the AOC, the City completed a wastewater treatment improvement project. The City now has one of the first golf course reuse irrigation projects in the State of Montana. The City pumps their treated effluent from the treatment plant to the municipal golf course for disposal during the irrigation season. The wastewater system improvements included clarification to provide a high-quality effluent that can be disinfected to the DEQ-2 standards for Class C effluent, chemical addition (alum and polymer) to maximize settling and produce a high-quality effluent with TSS levels of 10 mg/l or lower and clarifiers housed in a building so that year-long operation can be achieved. During non-irrigation season (winter), the aerated lagoons, clarifiers, and UV disinfection systems are operated to meet the requirements of the discharge permit to the Missouri River.

Project Highlights

  • I&I study
  • New submerged aeration system
  • Baffle curtains
  • New clarifiers
  • Gas chlorine disinfection
  • UV disinfection
  • Pumping systems
  • Two new buildings
  • Lagoon sludge removal
  • Chemical feed systems – Alum and polymer
  • Sludge drying beds
  • Irrigation forcemain
  • Golf course irrigation upgrades
  • Instrumentation and control
  • Lift station upgrade
  • 5,252 ft forcemain replacement
  • Lift station backup generator
  • MPDES Compliance Schedule
  • Administrative Order (AOC) Correction
  • Discharge Permit Analysis
  • Project cost $5.5 million
  • Funding
  • RD Grant - $1.23M
  • DNRC - $100,000
  • Local - $502,000
  • TSEP - $750,000
  • RD Loan - $2.65M

Project Photos

View More Wastewater Projects

Permitting • Treatment • Collection • Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) Studies • Lift Stations • Biosolids/Sludge Management • Preliminary Engineering Reports/Facility Plans