County wastewater gets green light to do green audit

Johnson County Wastewater has received the green light to conduct a green audit of its overall operations and facilities.

On Thursday, June 12, the Johnson County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to authorize $400,000 for a "System-wide Energy Efficiency Pre-Design Study" of the county's wastewater system regarding energy conservation.

According to John O'Neil, general manager for the Wastewater Department, the audit includes evaluating the addition of a cogeneration system at the Nelson Wastewater Treatment Complex in Mission. The system will provide a future alternative power source by using methane gas.

The review also will study the possibility of adding geothermal and/or solar heating and cooling to wastewater facilities and improving the energy efficiency of all major treatment and pumping facilities in the wastewater system.

Results from the audit are expected to help Johnson County's efforts to decrease greenhouse gases (GHG) by 80 percent within both County Government and the Johnson County community by 2050.

"Consequently, Johnson County Wastewater is committed to integrating sustainability into its business and project planning and processes. This Energy Efficiency Study should result in recommendations that will contribute to the county's GHG reduction goals," O'Neil said.

Johnson County Wastewater has not conducted an energy audit since 1987. In the past 20 years, the county's wastewater system has:

* roughly doubled the number of miles of waterwater lines it maintains to more than 2,000 miles. Wastewater flow treated also has nearly doubled to more than 20 billion gallons of wastewater each year. The system now serves more than 130,000 customers, including both residences and businesses;

* constructed the Mill Creek Regional Treatment Plant in Shawnee. The plant opened in 1995; and,

* expanded and improved daily treatment capacities at all seven wastewater treatments plants to meet increased demands for services from residential and commercial growth in Johnson County. The county's population has increased by more than 200,000 people since 1987.

The audit will be performed by one of the term-and-supply engineering firms that are under contract to perform professional engineering services for Johnson County Wastewater. The process is expected to get under way in late summer with completion in about a year.

Funding will come from a low-interest loan ($400,000) from the Kansas Pollution Control Revolving Fund of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The audit was one of two Johnson County Wastewater projects selected by the state to improve Kansas' wastewater infrastructure with funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.

The other project was $15.4 million for improvements to the Douglas L. Smith Indian Creek Middle Basin Treatment Plant in Overland Park. The improvements include a cogeneration system to produce virtually all of the plant's annual operating energy from captured biogases. The system is expected to generate an estimated $600,000 in annual cost savings and reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 9,700 metric tons. Completion of the project is scheduled by the end of 2010.

Johnson County has another System-wide Energy Efficiency Pre-Design Study in the works involving the Facilities Department which received approval by the Board on June 11 to apply for a $552,500 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant from the United States Department of Energy. The grant, if authorized, can be used to develop and implement projects to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions.

The Facilities Department plans:

* to conduct energy audits of 20 county buildings;

* install energy-efficient LED parking lot lighting;

* procure and install recharging infrastructure for plug-in electric vehicles;

* promote home weatherization efforts in partnership with other local municipalities and community partners; and,

* conduct an energy-focused education and outreach campaign to county employees.

The federal funding would be awarded to the Facilities Department through the ARRA at no cost to the county.

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