Clean Water

State Revolving Fund

WWTP UPGRADE

STATE PROGRAM: Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources

ASSISTANCE RECIPIENT: Bluffview Sanitary District

ASSISTANCE AMOUNT: $2.3M

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Bluffview Wastewater Treatment Facility, located in south central Wisconsin, was built to treat wastewater
from the Badger Army Ammunition Plant. This military industrial installation was constructed in 1942 to support
efforts in World War II and later the Korean War and Vietnam War. Original housing built for the Army has
been converted to multi-unit housing for the community and now has a population of approximately 700
people. The Bluffview Sanitary District provides wastewater service for this community, which has a low median
household income. In 2016, the Army transferred ownership of the treatment facility to the Bluffview Sanitary
District. At the time of property transfer, the facility was not able to meet the discharge permit limitations for
total nitrogen. In order to meet the total nitrogen limit, the District implemented a $4.3 million facility upgrade.
The District qualified for hardship assistance and received $2.3 million in CWSRF loan forgiveness and received a
Community Development Block Grant for $500,000 to make the project affordable for its users. Facility
upgrades included the construction of a moving bed biofilm reactor, a groundwater disposal system, a pressure
distribution drain field system, an effluent pump station, a potable well, and additional improvements. The
treated effluent is now discharged to a newly installed groundwater distribution system with groundwater
monitoring wells. These upgrades will produce a cleaner effluent and enable the plant to meet the groundwater
total nitrogen limit.

To read more about this case study, please visit https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-02/2021-
pisces-compendium.pdf.

CWSRF Case Study

&EPA

https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf


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