Colby’s New Waste Water Treatment Plant

Wastewater flow to Colby’s new Waste Water plant started on September 16, 2008. This new plant is designed to process 2 million gallons per day with two clarifiers. We do have the option to add a third clarifier should the population increase and the need arises.  Checkout the Steps in the Treatment Process

Currently our average daily flow is 650,000 gallons per day. The plant is maintained by three employees. These three employees maintain all the equipment at the new plant and perform the day to day operations 365 days per year. They perform all lab work and make operating decisions designed to efficiently keep the plant operating  within KDHE specifications. In addition to working at the Plant, these same three employees clean sewer mains, televise mains as needed, jet and flush sewer mains, make new sewer taps for new businesses or new homes, and raise manholes.

In the summer of 2009 the city started watering the ball diamonds with processed effluent water from the wastewater plant.  This process saves approximately 600,000 gallons per month from the Ogallala Aquifer.  With the use of the effluent water we are required to take samples weekly at the ball diamonds.

These three employees are required by KDHE to obtain and maintain an operators certificate after one year of employment. There are four different classifications that are required to run a Wastewater plant in Kansas.

In 1997, a System Control and Data Acquisitions (SCADA) system was designed and installed by Technology Director, Mike Albers , at a cost of $26,000 to provide computer control of both water and sewer. The entire cost of the SCADA system was recouped in less than four (4) years by elimination of telephone lines and alarm systems. The sewer side of the SCADA system consists of transmitting equipment installed at each liftstation and at the Wastewater Treatment Plant to control and monitor the operations at these sites. With the assurance the City of Colby receives from the SCADA systems that all sites are operating correctly, it fulfills our regulatory requirements to the KDHE for 24-hour monitoring of the Wastewater System. The system also doubles as an alarm system to allow operators to be paged or called via phone in case of failure of any kind. If there is no reply by an operator to the alarm, the system has emergency numbers to contact the 24-hour dispatch at the Colby Police Department who will, in turn, contact the on-call person. The SCADA system is completely automated.

Plant Digester

Sludge Truck

Sewer Cleaning & Vacuum Truck
Sewer Camera

*Rates for residential users are based on the average winter water consumption for the months of December, January, and February. Commercial rates are based on the current period’s water use.

The City of Colby Utility Billing Office (Customer Service) can be contacted at 585 North Franklin, (785) 460-4400 during regular business hours (8-5 Monday through Friday, except holidays). There are a variety of services offered at the Utility Billing Office, including:

·         Collection of utility bills

·         Sale of dog tags

·         Utility service connects and disconnects

·         Sale of garbage bags

·         Cereal Malt Beverage & Liquor Licenses

·         Purchase of 95 gallon tipper cans for household waste and grass clippings

The Wastewater Department has an individual on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Requests for sewer repairs and maintenance or concerns about strong sewer odors should be reported to the Public Works Department, 195 North Sterling, (785) 460-4420 during regular hours (8-5 Monday through Friday). Emergencies after regular hours should be reported to the Colby Police Department (785) 460-4460 for assignment to the on-call individual.

The e-mail address for the Director of Public Works is .