Small Town Grows, Cold Spring to Start Wastewater Capacity Study

COLD SPRING -- The growing town of Cold Spring is preparing for the future by tackling a common issue many cities face, wastewater capacity.

Cold Spring is in the process of doing a wastewater capacity study through Stantec. Jon Stueve is the Cold Spring Public Works Director. He says the current wastewater facility hasn't had an upgrade in about 15 years.

"The last plant expansion was in 2004 and that was supposed to be a 20-year expansion. But with the growth we've had in Cold Spring since then, both residential and industrial, especially the [Cold Spring Brewing Company] brewery, it's pretty certain that it's using up the capacity faster than we thought it would."

Since the last plant upgrade in 2004, Cold Spring has seen over a 14% population increase. This is substantial for a town of its size.

Stantec will be starting the study next week. Stueve says Stantec will be able to find out how many more years the town will be able to use its current wastewater treatment plant.

"It could be a few years, a couple of years. It could be five years, ten years. It's not likely to go ten years but basically, their study will give us a good reading on when we'll need to do an expansion."

The wastewater capacity study will take roughly three to four months to complete. The study is being paid for through the city's wastewater budget.