Most lifelong residents of North Platte, Nebraska, don’t know where the wastewater treatment plant is. That’s exactly how Doug Meyer, superintendent, wants it: “It means we’re doing our job.”
Producing effluent cleaner than the receiving water pushes the five operators to their limit. The last upgrade split the screening stations, creating a temperamental treatment train. Recommended changes from consultants took months to evaluate and barely improved conditions. After three years of trying it their way, Meyer threw up his hands and told his operators, “Make it run.”
They did. It took time to learn the plant as it went through
