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On August 17, representatives from congressional offices, US Water Alliance Chief Executive Officer Mami Hara, Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 Water Division Director Jeff Robichaud, and Mayor Quinton Lucas visited the biosolids facility site for a brief program followed by a short walking tour of the site to see the importance and need for federal infrastructure investments.

The Blue River wastewater treatment plant – the plant that processes the vast majority of solids in Kansas City’s wastewater – retired its half-century old incinerators to adopt new technology, a thermal hydrolysis process (THP). But, what exactly is THP, and how does it work? To answer these questions, let’s look back at how Kansas City wastewater has been processed for the past five decades.

Not only will the Blue River Biosolids Facility have the latest technology to process human waste into a useful agricultural product, the facility is also being designed using the latest architectural technology. Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology takes the place of traditionally-drawn 2D plans and physical 3D building prototype models. Instead, it allows designers to create a digital, visual representation of a future construction project that includes multiple disciplines (e.g. structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and cost estimating).