This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The 30-year-old Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility that serves five districts and two municipalities is in need of upgrades that will cost an estimated $250 million, and that means a $5 monthly hike in sewer fees is coming to tens of thousands of Salt Lake Valley households and businesses.

• About 16,000 Taylorsville-Bennion Improvement District customers already are paying the extra $60 annually, added to their bills last January.

• Mount Olympus Improvement District has approved the increase and will begin charging about 50,000 to 60,000 customers Jan. 1.

• The Kearns Improvement District has also adopted the fee hike, and its 13,700 households and businesses will start paying it Jan. 1.

• Granger-Hunter Improvement District has scheduled a public hearing for Dec. 13 to discuss the $5 hike on its 27,000 West Valley City area customers (6 p.m. at district offices, 2888 S. 3600 West).

• Cottonwood Improvement District will hold a public hearing Dec. 21. It serves 25,000.

• Murray is conducting a rate study and hasn't yet approved the fee hike for its 9,500 customers.

• South Salt Lake hasn't decided whether to impose an increase on its 3,000 customers.

The proposed fee boost has been discussed for several years, said Clint Jensen, Granger-Hunter's general manager.

"We are trying to be good stewards of the environment," he said. "We have a high-quality precious resource. We clean it up and put it back into the environment."

The Central Valley plant is vital to the Salt Lake Valley and treats 50 million gallons of sewer water a day, said Tom Holstrom, water manager. When rebuilt, it will operate at a capacity of 87 million gallons per day — a volume projected to keep up with Salt Lake County's growing population until 2060.

"We work behind the scenes to meet public health needs and water quality," Holstrom said. "We emphasize all the physical sciences [in the process]. It's a complex system."

Rebuilding the multifaceted plant will be accomplished over the next two decades at a cost of about $140 million. It cannot simply be shut down and rebuilt, explained Holstrom.

Beyond rebuilding the aging facility, Central Valley must upgrade its processes to meet new state guidelines that require the removal of phosphorous, Holstrom explained. That upgrade carries a price tag of up to $90 million.

Not least, the up-to-date process may require Central Valley to build an $11 million pipeline from the plant to the Jordan River, where treated wastewater flows to the Great Salt Lake.

The estimated $250 million price tag has been allocated to the various water districts based on a formula taking into account volume and other factors.

The Granger-Hunter district's share is $57 million; Mount Olympus, $56 million; Cottonwood, $46 million; Kearns, $27 million; Tayorsville-Bennion, $26 million; Murray, $23 million; and South Salt Lake $15 million.

Dan Harrie contributed to this report.