1. Section Two Published by Wautoma Newspaper, Inc. www.wausharaargus.com Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Waushara Argus
Sewer system protects environment, real estate
Area property value rises $160.7 million in 26 years
By Jon Gneiser
argusjon@wausharaargus.com
Without the Silver Lake Sanitary Dis-
trict (SLSD) and its wastewater treatment
facility, property values around the Wau-
toma area’s five lakes would likely be in the
toilet.
Watson “Woody” Woodruff, who has
owned property on Silver Lake since 1961,
said before the SLSD installed sewer lines
to collect wastewater from properties within
the district, many failing septic tanks were
causing raw sewage to spill into the lakes.
“We were going downhill,” he said.
The sewage encouraged excessive aquat-
ic plant growth and decay, which clouded
the water and depleted oxygen levels – de-
creasing aesthetic and recreational enjoy-
ment as well as threatening the survival of
fish and other aquatic life.
The Marion Town Board founded the
SLSD in 1970, consisting of Irogami and
Silver lakes. In 1985, a steering committee
was formed to address water pollution that
had become so severe that Waushara County
placed a moratorium on construction of any
new buildings or additions to existing build-
ings.
Concerned citizens wanted to protect
their property value, said Woodruff, who
served as chairman of the SLSD Com-
mission. In the mid-1980s other entities
petitioned to be included in the SLSD to
create a 14-square-mile area that includes
five lakes – Bughs, Deer, Hills, Irogami and
Silver – and parts of the Towns of Dakota,
Marion, Mount Morris and Wautoma.
The SLSD wastewater treatment plant
at N1702 19th Ave. in the town of Marion,
as well as the collection system to transport
sewage to the facility was built in 1988 for
$10.6 million. Sixty percent of the project
was funded through a government grant,
said SLSD Superintendent Joel Jodarski.
According to the plaque on the wall at
the SLSD plant dedicated in his memory,
the late Victor A. Bartel was a key leader
who secured support and funding and was
instrumental in obtaining permits and guid-
ing the project from inception to comple-
tion.
The existence of sewer lines allows
potential property buyers to be confident the
lakes will remain clean, Woodruff said.
“We saw property values go out of
sight,” he said.
The total equalized property value within
the district has risen from $34.6 million in
1988 to $195.3 million in 2014, Jodarski
said.
“Obviously, this tremendous increase in
tax base helps pay for the services provided
by property taxes,” he said. “The establish-
ment of the Silver Lake Sanitary District is
the biggest economic boom to this area that
has ever occurred.”
In 1995, a $5.4 million expansion to the
SLSD facility was completed in order to
take on the city of Wautoma’s wastewater.
The expansion also included a lift station
that pretreats and pumps city wastewater to
the plant.
The facility will be able to accommodate
significant additional development within
the city or district, as it currently has more
than 600,000 gallons daily excess capacity.
It was designed to handle one million gal-
lons of wastewater daily.
The City of Wautoma and SLSD both
benefit by sharing capital, operation and
maintenance costs of the facility, Jodarski
said. Each community pays its share of
operation and maintenance based on the
amount of wastewater each area sends to
the plant. Presently the cost split is about 65
percent city and 35 percent SLSD.
The Silver Lake-Wautoma Wastewater
Commission, comprised of three members
of the SLSD Board and three members
representing the city, oversees the SLSD’s
budget.
In 2006, the SLSD refinanced its debt –
saving nearly $80,000. The district’s initial
long-term debt will be retired by November
2016, Jodarski said.
To have a reliable place to dispose of
biosolids generated at the plant, the district
owns and farms about 200 acres of land.
Nutrients in the biosolids reduce fertilizer
requirements for the crops. Staff trucks and
injects about 350,000 gallons of liquid bio-
solids into the fields annually, Jodarski said.
SLSD employs five full time and two
part time workers. The facility operates a
certified laboratory, which monitors the
removal of nitrogen as ammonia, biological
oxygen demand, total phosphorus and total
suspended solids. The lab also runs tests for
wastewater treatment facilities in Wild Rose
and Hancock.
Since the plant came online in Novem-
ber 1989, the quality of treated water has
performed well under the limits set by the
Department of Natural Resources, Jodarski
said. The SLSD has also never had a sewer
backup.
SLSD employees perform DNR required tests on the wastewater that’s coming into the plant as well as the treated water
that’s safe to discharge into the White River.
The oxidation ditch provides conditions for bacteria to feed on the organic compounds found in wastewater, removing
phosphorous, nitrogen and biological oxygen demand.
A cement storage tank can hold up to 460,000 gallons of biosolids until it’s ready to be injected into cropland in the spring
and fall. The dome-shaped buildings are clarifiers, where bacteria settle to the bottom and the clear water on top is disin-
fected seasonally and discharged to the White River.
SLSD’s wastewater collection system protects water quality in Silver Lake, as well as Bughs, Deer, Hills and Irogami, helping to keep the area attractive for recreation.