Bismarck wastewater flood mitigation project nearing completion

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - A multi-year flood mitigation project to prevent flooding of the Bismarck wastewater treatment plant is nearing completion.

Workers are installing a gate from the plant’s discharge pipe to the Missouri River.

Other flood protection plans, like rerouting the treated wastewater from the primary discharge point to the river, will help to prevent millions of dollars in damage to the treatment plant if a flood occurs.

If the plant were damaged by floodwater, the city has lagoons as a backup.

“We used to use those before we had a treatment process. We keep these four lagoons in for backup, and that’s what we would be able to put our effluent, our wastewater coming into the plant as we’re repairing the plant,” said Public Works Utility Operations Director Michael Mart.