“The City of Wichita recognizes its responsibility to be a good steward of the natural resources its citizens use and as a community we accept our obligation to preserve and protect those natural resources,” said Mayor Bob Knight.  “Today, we are unveiling yet another example of this commitment to the environment right here with Cowskin Creek.”

CCWQRF is a new state-of-the-art sanitary sewer treatment facility that was first incepted in 1997. At that time, there was a tremendous population boom in northwest Wichita. The current wastewater system was not prepared to handle such growth. The residents nearby were opposed to such a treatment center near their property, claiming it would bring property values down. After many meetings with citizens, negotiation and research, the City of Wichita Water & Sewer Department created a site that was non-intrusive to the current environment and even brought back the history of the location.

Historical photographs had indicated that the site was once a wetlands area. That would be the cornerstone of the facility.  Today, the new treatment facility and a clean water holding pond holds only 25 acres on the 148-acre land that was allocated. The remainder of the property will include 38 acres of constructed wetlands, 12 acres for public sport fishing, 12 acres for public use such as picnic areas, a group shelter, restrooms and recreational paths.

As a result of the site restoration and wetland creation, the City will restock the riparian corridor, a natural levee, with waterfowl, raptors songbirds and mammals. The abandoned channel area of the creek has been restored and the water quality has been improved.

Restoring the site and building the treatment plant cost the City of Wichita $29.1 million, financed with the sale of revenue bonds. The payoff has been great already with the area now serving a necessary function for the residents of northwest Wichita. It will also serve as an educational resource for local schools.

“We’ve done a lot of bragging about this facility; it is unlike anything else in this region within four to six states,” said David Warren, City of Wichita Director of Water & Sewer. “The governing body wanted to make this wastewater treatment facility a multi-functional facility that the community could be proud of.”

The CCWQRF site has already won two awards, even before it had opened. It was honored by the prestigious “Crown Community Awards” from American City and County Magazine. That award recognizes excellence in local government and was featured in the magazine in December 2002. It also received the Wichita Society of Professional Engineers Outstanding Engineering Achievement award for 2003. 

Architects for the project was McCluggage Van Sickle & Perry. Engineering was done by Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC), with construction by Dondlinger & Sons Construction Co. Inc.

Plant Facts:

• 40 million 8 oz. Glasses of water would be required to fill the biological treatment basins.

• The length of pipe used in the plant is equivalent to the length of 13.5 city blocks or about 2 miles.

The plant has the capacity to process as much as 6 million gallons of wastewater per day.