Collection System Maintenance

The 201 Collection System boundary defines the area that generates wastewater that needs to be transported to the Persigo Wastewater Treatment Plant . Currently, this totals over 500 miles of sanitary sewer lines. The total miles grow each year with the continued growth in the Grand Junction area.  Included in the 201 boundary are two Sanitation Districts which send sewage to Persigo WWTP for treatment. These districts and miles of system include the Central Grand Valley Sanitation District (78.6 miles) and Orchard Mesa Sanitation District (34.3 miles).

Persigo WWTP collection crews are responsible for cleaning and maintaining the City's portion of the collection system. This consists of 346 miles of sewer line, 32 lift stations, numerous catch basins and manholes .  The 32 lift stations contain 64 pumps, totaling 602 horsepower, with a combined pumping capacity of 11.5 million gallons a day.  Two high-pressure jetting trucks and one combination jetter/vactor truck clean the City's entire sanitary sewer system approximately once every 2.5 years. This does not include the additional cleaning of storm or irrigation pipelines.

You might see the City’s sewer-jetting trucks hooking up to fire hydrants to replenish their water storage tanks.  The water is used to high pressure spray (jet) the inside of the sewer lines to clean and break-up any debris. This is perfectly normal and safe. Only potable water is stored in the tanks and all the trucks have a back-flow prevention device. This will stop any water in the tanks from being pulled back into the water system.  An added benefit is this will exercise the fire hydrants and make sure they work during an emergency.

In 2010, collections crews cleaned 254 miles of sewer, storm and irrigation pipelines.  Collection crews are on-call 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, to respond to any emergency that should arise in the City's or if needed, the Sanitation District's systems. 

If you would like more information, please send Larry Brown, Maintenance Supervisor an email or call him at (970) 256-4168.