Reclamation Facility

The James R. DiIorio Water Reclamation Facility treats wastewater generated in homes, businesses, and industries throughout the City of Pueblo.  In addition, sanitary wastes from the Blende, Salt Creek and St. Charles Mesa Sanitation Districts, and from septic tanks throughout Pueblo County are treated here.  The James R. DiIorio Water Reclamation Facility treats more than 12 million gallons of wastewater daily.

Wastewater is reclaimed through natural processes, which are accelerated using electrical power and computer controlled equipment.  First, wastewater is simply placed into a large tank so grit and heavy particles can settle out by gravity, leaving dissolved materials in the water.  Next, settled wastewater is mixed with bacteria that are able to remove dissolved materials from the water.  The bacteria convert dissolved materials into more bacterial cells.  Finally, the bacterial cells are removed from the water by gravity settling and by disinfection.  The reclaimed water is discharged to the Arkansas River, where it supports a variety of beneficial uses including aquatic life and agricultural irrigation.

A process of anaerobic digestion further treats the residual solids that are removed through gravity settling processes.  These residuals are exposed to different types of bacteria in the absence of oxygen.  Anaerobic digestion kills microorganisms that could produce human illness, and converts much of the material to carbon dioxide, methane  and water.  The digested residuals, called biosolids, are used as cover material at the Pueblo Landfill.  The methane from this process is used to heat the facility.

The Laboratory group located at the Water Reclamation Facility takes water samples from various locations within the reclamation process, as well as environmental samples from the Arkansas River and Fountain Creek, and performs chemical testing to document water quality at each location.  These tests make it possible to control the water reclamation process, and to determine whether the quality of reclaimed water discharged to the Arkansas River meets legal requirements.  These tests also determine whether the quality of the water in the Arkansas River and in Fountain Creek meet legal requirements, and help to determine the sources of contaminants.