Spanish Fork City is receiving $7 million from the Utah Lake Preservation Grant fund from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality to fund the city’s new wastewater treatment facility.

The grant program was created during the 2022 legislative session after lawmakers set aside $30 million for projects that would benefit the water quality in Utah Lake. The grant utilizes funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.

To keep up with state standards regarding water quality, Spanish Fork needed to upgrade its current wastewater treatment facility, which services both Spanish Fork and Mapleton.

Overall, the new facility will cost $131 million, with the Utah Lake Preservation grant covering about 5% of that cost. Chris Thompson, Spanish Fork Public Works manager, said the city also received about $5 million in additional ARPA funding.

The Spanish Fork City Council approved the grant agreement during a meeting Tuesday.

The money will be put toward funding the construction of a membrane bioreactor for the water reclamation plant to filter phosphorus and nitrogen out of the wastewater.

Thompson described the bioreactor as “a million straws” that will take sewage water from the city, filter it and then send it into the lake. Approximately 5 million gallons of water flows out of the facility per day.

“Then after that, it’s basically cleaner than the streams going into Utah Lake,” Thompson said.

Excess nutrients — like phosphorus and nitrogen — can lead to algal blooms in the lake, some of which become harmful to humans and animals.

Last month, a dog died after a family outing to Utah Lake, and it is suspected that contact with harmful algal blooms caused the dog to get sick and later die.

According to the DEQ, about 80% of the phosphorus in Utah Lake comes from wastewater treatment plants. Warm temperatures, low water levels, sunlight and calm waters can also contribute to algal blooms.

Utah Lake is currently under a warning advisory for harmful algae blooms and residents are told not to swim or water ski, stay away from blooms, clean fish well, not drink from the lake and keep pets away from water.

The new facility is expected to be up and running in early 2025, Thompson said.

The grant received by Spanish Fork was the largest dollar amount awarded to a single entity through the fund. Payson City was also awarded $6 million for wastewater treatment upgrades and the grant provided funding for many other projects in the valley, such as addressing carp removal and shoreline restoration.

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