The cities in the Iowa Quad Cities will continue to work together to provide sewer and wastewater treatment service. Monday the mayors of Davenport, Bettendorf, Riverdale, and Panorama Park signed an updated version of an agreement first put into place in 1974 - to build, operate, and maintain a water pollution control plant and the sewer lines that serve it.
Davenport Mayor Frank Klipsch says collaboration has made this work for 45 years.
"We're all coming together to most effectively use the resources that all of our taxpayers have provided to us, and find ways to improve the sewage treatment system, also all the piping underground. You don't see a lot of this stuff, but it's extremely important for the long-term efficient operation of our cities."
The updated agreement includes stricter treatment requirements from the Iowa DNR and US EPA, and also updates the funding so there's money, not just for operations, but for future improvements. Customers should not expect to notice any difference in their bills, at least for now.
As Mayor Klipsch says, "if this system fails, 160,000 people can't use their rest rooms."
